Silver Linings
by The Unplanner
Summary: Continuation after Dark Clouds. Riku and Lambda are back in the Realm of Light, but the Organization isn't through with them yet. Meanwhile, a LOT of time passed in the world of the Azure, and a connection between times has been forged. Xemnas and Terumi's plans collide, which is guaranteed to mess up our heroes' first date. COMPLETE!
1. It's the Road to Dawn

**Silver Linings**

 **Chapter 1: "It's the Road To Dawn."**

 _A/N: Thanks go out to all the people following my author's profile, probably in the hopes that I would upload this very story! As I said back then, this may end up being more of an action/romance/infodump quilt than a coherent story. I'm not even sure it'll be in chronological order. But this chapter follows immediately after the events of Dark Clouds. As a recap, Riku, Lambda, and the King are following the dirt road to dawn, and DiZ and Namine have moved Sora to Twilight Town for safekeeping. Let's get started, shall we?_

 **VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

"So," Lambda spoke up after about two minutes of walking, "Here we are, walking the road to dawn. Any ideas about our next stop, Riku? I mean, it doesn't seem like this road actually goes anywhere."

Riku scratched his neck. "Well, I suppose we could try that Corridor of Darkness thing the Organization always used to get away. We're wearing the coats now, so it should work."

"Well, where should you make a Corridor to?" Mickey asked.

"Should we check in on your kingdom, Mickey?" Lambda was interested in learning what kind of place would crown a mouse their King, even a mouse as obviously courageous and powerful as Mickey.

"Well...normally, I'd be all for checking up on Minnie-she's my wife, and the Queen of Disney Castle. But we can't use a Corridor of Darkness to get there."

"Huh? Why not? Is there some sort of defense against teleportation?" In Lambda's experience, a teleportation technique could just bypass any sort of defense. Certainly Zexion had been able to just warp out when Riku went ham on him, although he'd obviously run afoul of the Replica afterward. Did magic work differently on different worlds?

"Sort of, though it's more of a defense against Darkness in general. Disney Castle was built around a big crystal ball that the residents of Disney Town have been filling with their hopes and dreams for generations! We call it the Cornerstone of Light, and it keeps Darkness from other worlds out of the Castle. Even if we opened a Corridor to Disney Town, we wouldn't be able to enter the Castle itself afterward. And I'd really hate to be locked out of my house because I took a shortcut getting home!"

"Well, then we can assume Minnie's safe. Is there any other way to check up on her?" Riku asked. It must be wearing on Mickey, being so far from his wife for so long.

"Sort of. I can send her these letters." Mickey pulled an envelope stamped with what was obviously his royal seal-and his royal face-out of his sleeve. "This one is to tell her I made it out of Castle Oblivion unharmed. Don't worry, I didn't write any personal stuff about you in it! Alakazam!" Mickey held the letter over his head, and it vanished in a cloud of yellow sparkles. "Too bad she can't send any back. I really do need to get back there sometime, but now that Sora put the worlds back in order, all the walls between them are back in place, and the Gummi Routes are closed. In the meantime, we could check on some other world. They should be at peace now, but it never hurts to check. Let's open a Corridor to Hollow Bastion!"

Riku blanched. "Hollow Bastion?"

"Maleficent's dead in the real Hollow Bastion, right? What happened after that?" Lambda asked.

"Well, I'm pretty sure the original inhabitants of that world came back from Traverse Town right before the Door to Darkness closed. The place is a wreck, though. The Heartless never found the Keyhole leading to the heart of that world, so the destruction there was a lot more...manual. It won't have been fixed like any of the other worlds Sora brought back."

"We should help out, then!" Mickey was raring to go, as usual.

"But what about Sora?" Lambda asked. "Where did DiZ say he was taking him?"

Riku facepalmed. "Argh, I forgot to ask! I guess we'd get more information in Hollow Bastion than anywhere else, though." Riku finally raised his hand in front of him, calling the Darkness to gather. A Corridor appeared, and they all stepped through.

After a peculiar sense of displacement, like she was in two places at once, Lambda reopened her eyes and saw a mass of blue crystals all around them. "It looks like we're pretty far from any towns. There seem to be life signs over that way," Lambda pointed. "Shall we get going, Riku- _Riku!_ "

Riku had fallen to his knees, and Mickey was already there with a hand on his shoulder. Riku shoved it off. "I...I'm fine. The Darkness was really strong for a second there, but I can take it."

"You don't look fine. Your face is really pale." Lambda caught up as Riku stumbled forward.

"Sorry, Lambda. I don't think there's much to be done about it right now, though. We should get to town."

"Maybe Merlin could help! He's a wizard, and he and I go way back! Let's go, then!" Mickey bounded ahead, and Lambda followed with Riku leaning on her shoulder.

 **VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

"Hm...very troubling." The stick-thin old man with a beard that reached his knees mumbled as he placed a hand over Riku's forehead, then his heart. It hadn't taken them long to reach the settlement of the people trying to restore Hollow Bastion, and even less time for the wizard Merlin to appear before them.

"As in, more troubling than the Heartless we fought on the way here?" Lambda asked. That had been unexpected. The Door to Darkness was shut, and this far from the Realm of Darkness, they shouldn't have seen any Heartless like there were in the Realm Between.

"Quite so. The Heartless are entirely expected. Though that Sora boy did stop more from pouring out of the Realm of Darkness, there are plenty already here. And as long as Darkness exists in a single person's heart, the Heartless will always be a constant threat. Riku's condition, though, can't be beaten back into the shadows by a Keyblade like a simple Heartless."

"What's wrong with him? He beat Ansem's hold on him. That I know for sure. His Light's just as strong as his Darkness, which is apparently unique."

"Oh, Ansem's not through with him yet. As a result of Riku's dual nature, the two halves of his heart are constantly locked in a power struggle. Ansem is a third party, one that has been pushed to the audience for now. He'll be back, but he won't be able to take Riku over without Riku's express consent again. Of that, I'm certain. However, Riku has his hands and heart full fighting himself over numerous issues that I'm not sure even I can fathom. He is not the first to be affected so, though he is the first with a sliver of a chance to save himself."

"What can I do? I can't stay in bed forever. Sora needs me." Riku tried to get up.

Merlin pushed him back down, his skinny arms more than a match for Riku's current state. "But can you face him?"

"What are you saying? Zexion asked the same thing, and Riku rather pointedly told him the answer is yes." Lambda glared at Merlin, but Riku just fell back into bed.

"You see? His conflict is not decided yet. It may be better just to ignore such issues for now. Lock them away, but only until you have the strength of heart and will to deal with them. Anyway, who is this 'Zexion?'"

"He's a member of Organization XIII; they call themselves Nobodies, and they all wear cloaks like ours to protect themselves in Corridors of Darkness," Lambda reported.

Merlin scoffed. "And you thought you could use a Corridor of Darkness with only the coat for protection? Nobodies have it easier in some respects. They are what remains when a heart becomes a Heartless. A body without emotion is not dead. It will act with a will of its own, even though the Darkness will twist it beyond recognition. Yet this Zexion has a name of his own, unlike most of the lesser Nobodies. I'll have to do some research on this Organization XIII. For now, remember: the Darkness cannot be held back by a coat or armor if it already has a foothold in your heart. And Darkness lingers in every heart. Nobodies have no hearts to besiege, so they can travel in the Realm of Darkness almost with impunity. You're not quite so 'lucky.'"

"Not every heart..." Riku spoke up. "Kairi didn't have any Darkness at all. Even Sora must have had some, to turn into a Heartless, but Kairi didn't."

"True, but as a Princess of Heart, she's special in her own right. Don't hold yourself up to those standards. For everyone else, it's enough to simply keep fighting the Darkness. For you, that fight will be much harder. It may be best to bow out of the fight for now."

"I think I'll keep my heart, as much trouble as it is, if you don't mind." Riku stated with a hint of sarcasm. 

"Of course you should! I'm not suggesting you rip it out yourself. Instead, wear this." Merlin produced a strip of black cloth from his Bag of Holding (which he'd already demonstrated by pulling out an extra bed for Riku). "Tie this around your eyes, and you will no longer have to stare into your Darkness."

Riku did so, and immediately felt better. The color returned to his cheeks. "Wow... I do feel a lot better, but how am I supposed to fight Heartless or Nobodies like this?"

"By relying on senses other than sight, of course! Your sense of smell is highly acute, is it not? Hear your opponents' movements, smell their presence, and strike at their Darkness."

"Yeah... I can sort of 'see' you there above me, even now. Is that the Darkness in your heart?"

"Quite so, though I pride myself on funneling it only into staying on task during all-night research binges. You should be fine using Corridors of Darkness as long as you wear that blindfold, but keep their use down to once per day. Lambda, take this timepiece." Merlin handed Lambda a gold-plated pocketwatch. "This watch will tell you the correct time, even if you take it to other worlds. It's essential to any world-traveler, and I always keep fifty in my bag. You never know when you need to know when it is!"

Lambda took a second to work through Merlin's tongue-twister. "...Got it. Thank you, Merlin. I guess we'll be here for another day, then. Riku, let's find out where Mickey went off to."

"Knowing him, he found some way to get off-world, and now we need to catch up." Riku pushed himself out of bed, and with a final wave right to Merlin through his blindfold, the pair of travelers strode out.

 **VVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

 _And there you go! The source of Riku's blindfold, which was a weird part of Riku's character in Days and KH2, is Merlin in this story. Riku will pick up on blind-fighting really fast. In Days, he effortlessly beat Xion without even using his sword. He'll get that good in a hurry. Next chapter: "You Owe Me An Ice Cream!" The next stage is Twilight Town. Cid's got a Gummi Ship, after all, and the only Gummi Route open at this point is the one between Hollow Bastion and Twilight Town._


	2. You Owe Me an Ice-Cream!

**Silver Linings**

 **Chapter 2: "You Owe Me an Ice-Cream!"**

 _A/N: Here, Cid transports our heroes to Twilight Town on the only available Gummi Route, Lambda fiddles with her new toy, and I introduce a new style for chapters as opposed to what I've done in Dark Clouds. The worlds of the story are more open now in many ways. I've noticed a consistent tone in my reviews that my chapters are very short, especially my fight scenes, so I've decided to compensate by taking three or so times as many plot points and putting them into each chapter. The usual scene break from Dark Clouds (a line of bold **V's** ) will from here on denote a change of perspective. Many new characters have joined the possible cast. You'll see what I mean later in this chapter._

 _Even with the new flexibility of the story, however, my ability to choose a set of possibilities out of this endless continuum shift is as limited as any human. If you think you'd like to see a scene play out differently, by all means write it yourself! I'd like a PM or review stating what you've called your spin-off, though. And continue to give credit to (DISCLAIMER) Square Enix, Disney, and Arc System Works!_

 **VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

Lambda had suggested that any sort of off-world travel would probably start at the town's highest point. Riku concurred, and so they ran into Mickey at an elevated plaza where some shops were being set up like an open-air market. Mickey was currently talking with an older man with blond hair, white work clothes, and aviation goggles, apparently chewing on a stalk of wheat. That was what Lambda saw, anyway. Riku was still blindfolded, and thus "saw" a sort of silhouette of the pair through the synaesthesia of his dark-sense, hearing, and smell. As Riku drew closer, he could hear their conversation, too.

"...Well, Cid, thanks a bundle! I hope this'll cover it..." And Mickey produced a flabbergasting amount of munny from his coat pocket.

"...That'll do it, all righty. For you, those two cute kids over there, and possibly everyone else in Hollow Bastion! That's way too much munny!"

"Cute kids?" Mickey turned. "Riku! Lambda! You made it!"

"Sort of," Riku replied, tapping the blindfold.

"Why would you be... Well, never mind! I'm sure it was Merlin's idea, and I get the sneaking suspicion he knows _everything_. Wizards are mysterious like that."

"Yeah, it really helped his condition. Too bad about his eyes, though..." Lambda noted sadly.

"Is something wrong with his eyes?" Mickey tried his hardest to wear a look of concern, but it turned into a smile like all his other expressions.

"No, but as long as he keeps them under that blindfold, I can't see their really pretty color." Lambda murmured. Mickey chuckled, and Riku's face turned bright red. "What? I like Riku, and as far as I can tell, we're 'going out', or whatever the euphemism is. Language is pretty confusing sometimes." Riku went even redder.

"Well... Yeah, we are. Nothing like a few dozen death threats to speed things up."

"Death threats?" Cid barked. "You didn't mention you had folks chasing ya, Your Majesty!"

"Right now, we're pretty sure we've lost them. So please don't call me by name! Organization XIII is listening all the time!" Mickey whispered.

"Organization What?"

"Organization Not Your Problem, if we're not on this world when they find us," Riku noted.

Lambda reworded what Riku said." _If_ they find us."

"If. If is good. So, can we ride on your awesome Gummi Ship, too, Cid?" Riku asked.

"Well, since I've been paid for the King's trip and about five hundred others, I think I can make this a free service! Not that most people want to go somewhere, or that there's much of anywhere to go."

"Are any of the old Gummi Routes open?"

"No. After the worlds reappeared, all the walls between them went back up. But a new, practically empty one opened afterward. Leads from here to someplace called Twilight Town. You think you need to get there?" Cid asked as he opened a compartment on his awesome rocket, called the _Orichalcum_ , for some last minute repairs.

"Riku, wasn't that the name of the card we didn't recognize?" Lambda asked, mostly for confirmation.

"Yeah, it was. Cid, long story short, I think it is important that I get there. Where do I get in?" 

"...Doors are for wimps." Cid teleported the three passengers to a side cabin in the _Orichalcum_. "Only way to get in or out of a Gummi Ship! Works like a charm every time, too. Magitek is the best stuff I ever invented! Now, please keep all arms, legs, and lethal weapons inside the cabin at all times, and thank you for flying Cid's Gummi Biz nonstop to Twilight Town!" The ship vibrated so hard that Lambda was sure it would break apart, but then the vibration was replaced by rapid forward acceleration. Riku almost threw up.

Lambda couldn't have stomachaches, so she instead opened the pocketwatch Merlin had given her. On the cover was the label, _World Clock_. The hands of the clock didn't move, though. "Hm... I wonder if I just have to ask it something? World Clock, what's the time in Neverland?" The clock hands zoomed to a new position. "Digital display, please." Lambda was just guessing, but the clock face was replaced by numbers, including a date. "Hm...January 14th? That's the same date system used in my original universe. Speaking of... what's the time in my universe?" The clock changed times, but then started counting up crazily fast, skipping back, and counting up again. Above the display was a label: _Azure Timeline_. "Holy...I think time is really different there from here. What's going on? Anyway, please display the universal time for this timeline." The clock snapped to the current time, under the display _Heart Timeline_. "Hm... I wonder if it can answer certain questions... How long ago in universal time did I appear in Castle Oblivion?" The clock's digital display switched to a longer format. Lambda gasped, and nudged Riku. "Riku, I've figured some things out about this clock, and it says we were in Castle Oblivion for _twenty-two days_!"

"What? But we never ate anything! How are we even still alive?" Riku was flabbergasted. It only felt like a few hours to him.

"I guess, for you at least, it was those healing zones. I don't technically need to eat, though Ican if the opportunity presents itself. Hey, I think we're getting close to Twilight Town!" Lambda could see a rock in the distance that seemed comparatively small next to the buildings atop it. "Do worlds just look different from the Gummi Route than they do on land?"

"Yep!" Cid called over the intercom. "Please buckle your seat belts and prepare for landing. First time fliers, don't worry-the landings are a lot smoother than the takeoffs!" The Gummi Ship slowed down and teleported to a hangar. "This world doesn't have a dedicated port, so it's a good thing the designers of Gummi flight thought ahead! I'll teleport you off the ship now, and head on home. I dunno how you'll get back, though..."

"Don't worry about it-we'll find a way!" Lambda called. The teleporter activated, and the black-coated pair found themselves in what looked like a train station. "Wait, where's Mickey?"

"Don't tell me he dashed ahead again. Seriously, that-" Riku was interrupted.

"Pence! You dropped the ice-cream! AGAIN!" A loud voice called from the front door as three teenagers chased each other inside. The one who had spoken had dirty blonde, wavy hair and a black shirt with a skull on it. With his camouflage pants, he looked like a stereotypical punk.

"You're the one that told me to hang onto it. AGAIN." The slightly overweight boy in front of him called back over the shoulder of his jersey with "DOGSTREET" printed on it.

"Geez, Hayner! The ice-cream bars had their wrappers on this time! You don't have to chew out Pence!" The girl at the back of the group had brown hair, green eyes, and an orange blouse with white flowers printed on it.

"Yeah, I'd much rather chew on that sea salt ice-cream anyway." Hayner grinned. "Thanks for speaking up, Olette! I might have actually caught him this time. Next time, there will be no escape from the noogies, Pence!"

"Yeah, no hard feelings or anything." All of them stopped running, and laughed together on their way out the door.

"Who were those guys?" Lambda asked.

"This was probably a good look at the locals. What I want to know is what sea salt ice-cream tastes like," Riku wondered. His mouth was watering, especially now that he knew he hadn't actually eaten in weeks.

"Well, there's a spot over there that says 'Ice-Cream.' Do you have any munny?"

"Yeah, I've still got about 1500 from before the whole mess at Castle Oblivion, plus 50 or so you picked up from the Heartless in Hollow Bastion. I'll buy it."

"Can you buy me one?" Lambda asked. "It could be like our first date!"

"Well, when you put it like that..." Riku walked over to the vendor. "Hello, I'd like to try the sea-salt ice-cream bar. Two, please. The second is for my girlfriend."

The vendor replied, "Here you go. 50 munny total. I've never seen you around here before, kids. Why the blindfold?" 

"I almost forgot I was wearing it! I guess you'd say it's the doctor's orders. My 'condition' is kind of unique, but I'm fine when I wear this. I can find my way around pretty well." Riku gave the man the money and took the bars. He handed one to Lambda. "Here you go. Let's find a bench or something."

Sitting just outside the station with Riku, Lambda unwrapped her bar. Tentatively, she put it in her mouth and gave it a lick. "Whoa! That's a lot of different flavors! Salty...sweet...tangy... It's really good!"

"Was that your first time eating food, Lambda?" Riku took a bite of his own bar. "You might want to eat it faster. It'll melt if you don't."

"Yeah." Lambda took a bigger bite, and gulped it down. "I can see why humans get all worked up about food."

"Well, not everything tastes this good." Riku took another bite, and Lambda followed suit with a much larger bite. Then the brain freeze set in.

"Ah, my head!" It felt sort of like a headache. "Is this some kind of glitch?"

"No, you just ate _too_ fast. It's called brain freeze, and it happens to people who eat cold foods really fast. It'll pass." Riku finished his bar, and took Lambda's hand. "Sorry I didn't warn you."

Lambda leaned in and kissed Riku's cheek."I'll learn. Thanks for buying the ice-cream, Riku. I guess this was a pretty good first date."

Riku fuzzed out again. "I guess..."

Lambda giggled. "It's really funny how you blank out every time I kiss you. Do you think you'd get used to it if I did it more often?"

Riku got himself together and grinned. "Maybe..." He pulled Lambda's head in and gave her a quick kiss on the lips. He could taste the ice-cream on them, along with what he figured was Lambda's own unique taste. "I'll have to try some more to be sure."

It was Lambda's turn to blank out. "...Yeah. I guess we will." Riku chuckled as he turned his face towards the warmth of the setting sun.

 **VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

 _Meanwhile, in a completely different universe..._

"Greetings, Rachel Alucard. It has been some time." The shadow of a man cast by one of three empty chairs spoke to the young-seeming girl in the middle.

"Let us dispense with the pleasantries, Takamagahara. I assume you summoned me here to admonish me over lifting Restriction Zero?"

"Correct. Need we remind you that you agreed to your role?" The woman's shadow asked.

"You do not. However, the most recent loop presented the only opportunity I have ever had to see beyond the ending of that wretched vaudeville you've been playing. I couldn't have the Nox spoil the sequel."

"True, this has gone on for a very long time with no further chance of completing our goal. Perhaps we should thank you. However, that remains to be seen. Takamagahara has engaged a continuum shift, to examine all the possibilities of the new timeline segment. A restore point has been created."

"The future is now rather unpredictable. More so than even you likely realize." Rachel's blood-red eyes held a twinkle. She did love dangling secrets in front of people. If she did not, she would have done something to try to bow out of her role much sooner. 

"Incorrect. We are able to simultaneously Observe every possibility of this world."

"Yes, but what about other worlds? Other universes, beyond even the Master Unit's Observation?"

"If such a world existed, how would anyone know, even you?"

"Random chance, mostly. During Phase 578, the 11th Murakumo Unit failed to be retrieved from the Cauldron after its creation. Lacking anything more exciting to investigate, I found that it had fallen into a crack in the Boundary, an opening to a completely different realm that became far more stable when the loops ended. I expect Terumi will attempt to use this back door to interfere with the plays, both here and on the other side."

"Terumi... He really is something of a maverick. Even we cannot predict him at times."

"Then you really did re-initialize him?! Why would you inflict his evil on this world again?" Lightning sparked around Rachel's feet, but was snuffed out. Takamagahara held sway here.

"He was necessary to reach our own goal. The world that Takamagahara governs simply needs to be correct. After the Destruction, it will return to its true form: that of the Azure."

"I've grown to like this world, though I doubt you will ever comprehend why. But yes, we did have a deal. I will continue to watch from the sidelines until Terumi comes after _you_."

"Unlikely. Terumi requires our Observation for his continued existence."

"Yet he is a skilled manipulator. He could find another to convince or coerce into Observing him. Furthermore, I have seen the worlds beyond this timeline, and the rules of Observation do not apply there. Practically nothing that applies here also applies there. Not even the Azure exists on that side. Yet, Number 11 still exists in that timeline. I hope you have some kind of backup plan in case Terumi truly escapes your clutches."

"This 'crack' you speak of lies in the Boundary, correct? Even if he were to escape, he could do little after the Boundary annihilates his physical host body."

"A setback at most for Terumi. I'm disappointed in your lack of foresight. I would consider this meeting adjourned." Rachel vanished, leaving only a faint smell of roses behind.

 **VVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

 _Elsewhere in that world..._

"Hazama. Come here. I have something that requires investigation." The masked Mad Puppeteer beckoned at nothing with his white-gloved hand.

"Don't you always?" Hazama appeared anyway, flanked by the formless cloak of the Phantom. "Ah, well. Can't keep my superiors waiting. What did you see?" Hazama squinted into the Cauldron from their position in the observation room high above it. Then again, he was always squinting. The better to hide Terumi's unnatural yellow eyes.

"There's a break within the Boundary, which led to the fortuitous discovery of a completely different world. A world where the Master Unit and even the Azure hold no sway, but the 11th subject fell into it and still exists there, even completely without Observation. So, are you interested now?"

"A place where one could exist without being Observed... You are talking about an 11th subject from a previous loop, yes? As far as I know, Kokonoe just dug that hunk of junk out of Ibukido in this timeline." Phantom's scrying magic was just one of her incredibly delicious uses.

"Quite so. As you know, crossing through the Boundary to take advantage of this rift, which I'm calling the Time Break for posterity, would be extremely hazardous for me. Which is where you come in."

"Hey! My host body will be destroyed if I just jump into the Cauldron again!" Terumi wasn't attached to Hazama's body in any emotional way, but existing in the physical plane had its uses. And Hazama took so _long_ to manufacture, too.

"I will preserve your host in stasis. You need only detach from your body as you fall, and it will be waiting when you return."

" _If_ I return." This was Terumi's best chance to be out from under Takamagahara's thumb forever!

"I realize it may be difficult to return from the Boundary, and you have little incentive to do so. However, you do have a deal with Death to honor. If necessary, I'll send a Murakumo Unit to retrieve you if you fail to return within one day. The channel I have opened is more stable than expected, and elongates relative time significantly. You should have ten subjective days on the other side before I get impatient."

"Do you even have another Murakumo Unit? The last one fell into the Boundary without even taking Rags along."

"Yes, I do. And if Number 12 proves too costly to recapture, I'll just forge another."

"That's an awful lot of souls you'd be wasting... Oh, right. I forgot I was dealing with a fundamentally uncaring bastard. Well, I guess I'll be jumping then. Geronimo!" With a sarcastic tip of his fedora, Hazama leaped into the Cauldron. As planned, his body was frozen above the opening, and Phantom teleported it to storage. The green-black wisp that was the true Yuuki Terumi shot downward towards the other timeline.

"He speaks as though he does care. Perhaps his own self-preservation is a higher priority than I assumed. Well, that can only work to the benefit of the project." Relius Clover returned to gazing at his displays. "Yet, Number 12's distortion of the timeline... If that believed failure really has inherited the Azure, I may need to re-evaluate its worth."

 **VVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

 _In the Realm of Darkness..._

"Hm... Not the most interesting scenery. This darkness, though... _Very_ interesting! It's not seithr, but it may actually work better than the real deal! That's a bonus. I don't know what I would have done if there was nothing to feed the Azure Grimoire during my stay." Terumi wafted away from the constant waves on the Dark Margin's beach.

"What manner of being are you?" Terumi found himself face to smoky green eyeball with a man in a black hood. "You are not of this world, or of any other that I know."

"Quite so." Terumi would have bowed, but not having a body made it difficult to tell. "I'm mostly here scouting this timeline for my direct superior. Mind telling me a little about this world?"

"You stand in the Realm of Darkness. It is the counterpart to the Realm of Light in which most beings with hearts reside. You will find no mercy from the Heartless here, but you will find it difficult to leave."

"And you? If this Realm of Darkness is so dangerous and empty, why are you here?"

"My kind use this Realm as a shortcut when traveling from world to world. It is the only way to circumvent the walls between them. I hope I have satisfied your curiosity for now."

"Well, if you could, I have one other request. My body was left behind as a side effect of passing through the Boundary to get here. Is there any temporary solution to this little problem of mine?" Terumi hated begging, but it did usually get results.

"Ah, so that is why you appear as you do. Fortunately for you, I may be the most knowledgeable mind in any world on this topic. And I do have a solution." The unknown man waved a hand, and Darkness coalesced above it into an empty coat identical to his own. "These Black Coats are the calling card of my Organization for several reasons. First, they provide a measure of defense against the Power of Darkness. More importantly for you, they can serve as an ideal vessel for temporarily disembodied hearts. Go right ahead. But do not think for a moment that such a temporary vessel has the power to betray my kindness. Seek your emotional sustenance elsewhere."

"You saw right through me, kind sir! Rest assured, I have no actual plans of getting in your way, and I don't see why I'd do my usual psychological warfare thing on a being with no hatred to eat. Where did all your emotions go? No matter." Terumi immediately possessed the coat. The ensemble included gloves, pants, and boots, all of which filled with nothing but his will. "Very effective! Not having another will in here makes things a lot easier for me. Now, then, did you need anything in return? I despise owing people."

"If you would impart knowledge of your world and how you invaded ours to me, that would be sufficient. Perhaps a change of venue would be beneficial." The unknown waved his hand again, and a Dark Corridor wove together."

"Well, it's good doing business with you! My name's Yuuki Terumi. What's yours, partner?"

"My name is of no importance, but if you must have it, refer to me as Xemnas. Come. I should introduce you to Organization XIII, in which I am Number I, the Superior." The two coated figures entered the Corridor and left the Realm of Darkness behind.

 **VVVVVVVVVVVVV**

 _A/N: Uh-oh... So, as a recap, Riku and Lambda are now officially a couple and in Twilight Town. Feel free to come up with a shipping/pairing name. It would make good content for a review! (Hint, hint!) Also, the Azure Timeline and the Heart Timeline are now connected by the Time Break. Of course, the pool of beings able to jump between them is small, since anyone trying would have to cross the Boundary. Murakumo Units can, Rachel could, and Terumi just did, but Riku would have a great deal of trouble. Maybe when his will is strong enough and he knows who he is a lot better. Nobodies are basically just a body, which the Boundary destroys, but Ansem (the Seeker of Darkness, not the Wise) would have no problem, if he weren't stuck behind Riku's heart right now. Perhaps with a Lingering Sentiment, other characters from the Heart Timeline could access the Time Break. I might look into it, but if I don't, remember that I'm giving all of you free license to expand this crossover AU, which still needs a cool name. Any suggestions?_


	3. This World Has Been Connected

**Silver Linings**

 **Chapter 3: "This World Has Been Connected."**

 _A/N: Yep, I'm back, and it didn't take a whole month this time, although we did pass into July. I'm getting worried about that... Anyway, here's where I honor the request made by Titano Man XIII regarding which character to bring from the Azure Timeline next. You'll see. But first, another scene with Terumi's new collaborators!_

 _Also, since certain characters from the Azure Timeline, Terumi included, tend to use swear words beyond a PG rating, this fic is now rated T for language as well as the usual violence and romance._

 **VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

"Greetings, friends," Xemnas began the meeting as usual. They hadn't had a meeting in the Round Room like this since the CO fiasco; Demyx was practically interested, since these meetings generally involved some kind of major shakeup to the routine he had worked not very hard to avoid. But the boss man was still speaking. "Today, a visitor from another continuum has appeared in ours. He has come in search of information regarding our timeline, and in return offers information on his own. Please acknowledge Yuuki Terumi of the Azure Timeline." On the platform in the middle of the room (it couldn't really be called a round table when the thirteen thrones were all so much taller), a generic Black Coat appeared from a generic Dark Corridor. Demyx wasn't impressed, and neither was this newcomer. "Hello, all. I'm Yuuki Terumi, well known in the Azure Timeline as the kind of guy who would kill a person's mother to feed on the child's hatred." Terumi paused for a reaction, and got none, save Demyx starting to nod off. "Interesting. And here I thought Colonel Relius was heartless, but even he would have reacted to that one. I guess lesson number one for me is that this whole group is made up of emotionless shells."

"The proper term is 'Nobodies,'" Xaldin noted with a dismissive tone. "So, now that you've gotten your first lesson, what do you have to offer us?"

"The exact location of the rift between continuums that Relius called the 'Time Break.' It's the path I used to get here, and it's two-way. Might be a rough trip, though. It goes through a place called the Boundary, and nobody-heh, puns-gets through there with their body intact." Still no reaction. "I actually had to leave mine behind with Relius, and Xemnas gave me this coat to wear in the meantime. Quite a neat trick, I'd say. And this end of the Time Break is in the Realm of Darkness, which I'm told is pretty dangerous on its own merits. It is possible to send scrying magic through the rift, which probably means I'm under surveillance right now. He probably thinks I'm going to stick around past curfew, but I do not lie. I just tell only the parts of the truth that are most beneficial to me. So, do you have any plans to cross over? I could use some excitement-destiny is so boring when I've already read every version of the script."

"You say the Boundary destroys bodies that pass through it. Can a heart or soul make the journey?" Xemnas queried.

"Yes. Did you have a particular soul in mind? I should probably also tell you that I only learned of the Time Break because of a one-in-a-million deviation in which something from our end passed through on accident. Apparently, that stabilized the rift. That thing is still somewhere on this end, probably causing headaches. Ever heard of a robot bitch called Lambda-11? I'm sure Relius will want that in my report."

 **VVVVVVVVVVVVV**

 _Meanwhile, in Twilight Town..._

Lambda clutched her head. She'd finished off the sea salt ice cream bar, at the cost of a second brain freeze. "Argh! Why does this stuff have to taste so good and hurt so much?"

"I did tell you to slow down. Next time, take both smaller bites and longer waits." Riku chuckled, having finished his with no problems.

"Got it. Well, let's go. Mickey's probably way ahead by now." Lambda shook off the brain freeze and stood up.

"Oh, shoot, you're right. If Castle Oblivion was accurate, the whole town's on a hill, and we're at the top. So I guess we just go downhill until we find something." Riku set off, and Lambda followed.

The town was very tranquil. No Heartless appeared to attack the pair until they found themselves in an empty sandlot with no townspeople around. "Proximity alert! 3 Creeper Plants and 4 Yellow Operas detected." Lambda whipped around. "Riku, should I handle this? You've got that blindfold."

"Nah, the Heartless are made of Darkness, remember? They stick out like the wart on Ursula's chin. I've got this. Try and keep Murakumo under wraps for now, okay? I don't know if the townsfolk would react to that armor." As he spoke, Riku dove into combat with sure footing and swift swordplay. He knocked out all the Heartless in five seconds flat. "That was...actually way easier than I thought. Are the Heartless weaker now than they were before?"

"I'm reviewing my scans... Yeah, they are. These aren't even a tenth as strong as the ones on Floor B1. I guess the Heartless aren't evenly distributed." Lambda led the way to the next area, a large marketplace with various shops and a tram line that seemed a bit superfluous. "Why have a tram here? The whole plaza is only 100 meters at the longest stretch. Are people just lazy?"

"Maybe so, but watch this!" Riku dashed up behind the slow-running tram, and leaped on top in one bound. "They make great stepping stones!" Oddly, nobody among the few townspeople nearby seemed to take much notice of Riku's feat. Maybe that _was_ what the tram was for. There weren't any stops, after all, and no one was inside the car.

Riku hopped onto a ledge around the middle shop, which had a big billboard that said "Synthesis Workshop: Opening Soon, Kupo!" Lambda asked, "What does 'kupo' mean?"

Riku kicked something up on the ledge, then jumped down, landing lightly before answering. "I have no clue. Moogles always end their sentences with it. The shop owner is probably a Moogle; they're famous for their synthesis results, after all. More importantly, I found a treasure chest up there with an Elixir in it!" Riku held out the glass pod filled with golden liquid he'd acquired.

"Okay, what do all those terms mean? Moogles, synthesis, and what's this Elixir do?"

"Moogles are little, furry creatures with big red pom poms on their heads. Nobody knows why they have them in the first place, but they don't like having the pom pom touched. They make a living running shops on several worlds, where they sell useful supplies like this Elixir or perform synthesis. That's a process where you put together several types of crystals the Heartless tend to drop and they make a whole new item. And this Elixir will basically heal one of us to full power, both physically and magically, if I break it on the ground. Good explanation?" Riku took a breath.

Lambda nodded. "Very. I see a big hole in the town's outer wall over that way. The wall's otherwise pretty thick, so I'm not sure what kind of reading I'm getting from the other side. It's definitely...something. Want to check it out?"

"Why not?" They wandered through the hole, which had obviously never been repaired for a reason, and emerged in a patch of trees. Here, the trees were pretty far apart, just close enough to provide shade over the whole place, but it wasn't far before the forest got so thick as to be impassable-if one discounted the fact that Lambda could summon infinite machetes to hack through it. There was no need, however. The thing Lambda had sensed was right in the middle of this lightly wooded area.

Lambda froze the instant she saw it. "That...how?"

"Is that you, Lambda? No, the hair color is too white, and her skin's so pale. Still, the resemblance...you even have the same hairstyle right down to that curl on top." Riku took a step closer.

"Stop, Riku! That girl is...target identified as Boundary Interface Prime Field Device. Alternate existence recognized. Asserting difference...ugh. That must be a newer subject in line. According to what I can get from her systems, she's the 13th subject, Nu-13. I can't believe so much time has passed that they've managed to build and discard two other "me"s already... Anyway, stay back. I highly doubt her emotional locks will be as weak as mine were. That wouldn't be 'progress' to our creator. And that means if she wakes up, this could get ugly." Lambda probably shouldn't have mentioned it, since at that very moment, Nu stirred and rose from the ground.

"Damage repaired. Systems operating at...0%. Error. Atmospheric seithr levels at 0%; insufficient seithr to power causality weapons or auxiliary systems." Nu stared straight ahead, though her eyes were concealed behind a visor identical to Lambda's.

"Phew. I figured she'd have the same problem. And I doubt she'll come to the same solution..." Again, Lambda spoke too soon.

"Scanning...Two targets identified. Target 1 identified as Boundary Interface Prime Field Device. Subject recognized as #11, Anti-Sankishin Core Unit...Lambda. Irregular configuration detected. Scanning...target is using a viable alternative power source. Rerouting...optimizing...done. Unit online and functioning at 300% of expected capacity."

"This is bad, Riku..." Lambda remembered her own episode with the Replica Vexen made of herself. Specifically, that all Murakumo Units had standing orders to terminate inferior units. Lambda was only running at 200%, and less in practice due to her limiter. That made her the inferior unit... But she could not accept that, or the consequences it implied.

"Lambda-11, you are obsolete...an inferior unit of the Murakumo line. I order you to self-destruct."

"Denied. Survival imperative supersedes your order. Battle to assert superiority? Y/N? Please don't say Y..." That last bit was Lambda's "own" voice, the one not ruled by her protocols.

"Awaiting orders...Connection failed. Switching to automatic protocols. Response...Y."

"Shoot. Riku, I might need your help with her! I can't stop her from fighting me!" Lambda unwillingly moved to a fighting stance. "Summoning Lux Sanctus. Murakumo, activate." Lambda's Black Coat disappeared, leaving her in her bodysuit as Murakumo's enormous blade transformed into her armor.

Both Units spoke in unison, which sort of creeped Riku out, but he placed himself beside Lambda anyway. "Engaging Battle Mode. Terminate target."

Nu launched the first assault by mere milliseconds. Sword Summoners clashed in midair, but unlike Lambda, Nu had summoned _two_ swords at once. Only one clashed with Lambda's, cancelling each other out. The other continued on, and Lambda was forced to sidestep both it and Nu's second attack, which came from behind. "Target combat abilities classified as Unlimited variant. Release Restriction 13. Maximize Darkness output." Restriction 13 was the code Lambda had applied to herself to cap the Darkness she generated at a relatively safe level of 50%. It had held up well so far. But she needed full power to handle Nu's more refined combat algorithms and total lack of restraint. Already Nu's Darkness was spiking chaotically, suggesting that she didn't give the Darkness the threat assessment it deserved. Nu was overusing her Darkness to supercharge her abilities, and it wasn't going to end well, one way or another. Lambda launched a much larger sword at Nu, this time able to overpower both of Nu's return shots. Following the attack with Spike Chaser to launch the staggered 13th subject into the air, Lambda used her optimized aerial sword combo to drag Nu closer. Rather than finish with Crescent Saber this time, however, Lambda extended the combo by flipping in midair while slashing with her Petal blades when Nu was dragged into melee range. The last blow was a Calamity Sword attack that slammed Nu straight down.

Riku hadn't just been standing in awe of Lambda's awesome air combo, though, and he was right there with a Maelstrom spin attack when Nu bounced off the ground. Nu was thrown into a tree by his last uppercut, but merely stood up afterward, not even damaged. "What the? How? I know I cut through!"

"Target's damage has been repaired. Target shares a life-link with another being, likely one from the Azure Timeline. Complete destruction of target is impossible unless both linked entities are simultaneously terminated. Target's regenerative properties are accelerated by a separate, unknown process."

"What? Then we can't win? We can't kill her. We can't even hurt her! How do we get out of-Argh!" Nu had re-targeted the most recent target to land a blow on her, and stabbed Riku with four summoned swords. Riku shuddered as the blades vanished, leaving wounds in his chest and back.

"Riku! Act Parcer: Cavalier!" Lambda teleported between Riku and Nu, slamming her into another tree with a high slash of all eight of her Petals. "Riku, use that Elixir!"

"Got it!" Riku fished it out of his pocket, and slammed the pod against the ground. Rather than fill his hand with shards of glass, the pod evaporated into sparkles and a cloud of evaporated golden liquid. The healing substance surrounded Riku, instantly closing his wounds until nothing remained but rips in his coat. He sprung to his feet in a kicking lunge, similar to the one he'd always used to beat Sora in their sparring matches before everything fell apart. The difference this time was that his Darkness-shrouded boots caused an explosion when they smashed into Nu. "Lambda, give me a Gravity Seed!"

"Right! Deploying field." Lambda's gravity-enhancing Ars reduced Nu's advance to a snail's pace, but she responded with a Gravity Seed of her own under Lambda. A mistake: the real purpose of Lambda's move was, of course, to aid Riku's Impulse attack. If Nu had used the Gravity Seed on him instead, she might have thrown off their whole plan, but instead she was smashed to the ground, unable to rise while Lambda's field held her down. "Target damage 50%... Damage repaired. This could go on forever! Help! Anyone!" Lambda called down the path, hoping Mickey might hear.

Nu suddenly began to shudder, but it certainly wasn't Mickey's doing. Nu rasped out, "Phenomena intervention detected. Raw magic detected; resistance deemed futile. Exiting Combat Mode." Nu's armor disappeared, revealing that she had been wearing a strange black eye-patch with a red lid of some sort on it under her visor. Then her whole body flickered like a hologram in an old sci-fi movie and disappeared.

Riku stared at the pristine ground where Nu had been only seconds before. "Okay, what in the worlds just happened? How did she just vanish?"

Lambda reported, "Phenomena intervention. It's something from the Azure Timeline; a means of affecting reality through the data coming in from the Boundary. It shouldn't work here; this timeline isn't a result of any god's Observation. Maybe that's why whoever pulled it off used magic instead."

"Okay, now a whole bunch of terms just flew over my head." Riku knew very little about Lambda's original continuum.

"Let's see. The full explanation would probably take weeks, but I guess I should start with the structure of the Azure Timeline. There's the Azure right in the middle, surrounded by the Boundary. Somewhere in the Boundary is the rift she and I came through to get here. At the edges of the Boundary, there are bubbles of space-time that form several unique and parallel worlds, though crossing between them is very difficult. Each bubble is maintained by a set of three god-like entities, called the Sankishin or the Original Units. The Master Unit: Amaterasu is responsible for constantly Observing everything about a particular world, keeping it from fading from existence. Nothing in the Azure Timeline can stably exist unless it Observes itself, or more preferably is Observed by something like the Master Unit." Lambda took a deep breath. "That doesn't apply to something that crosses over here, like me, but it's vitally important to the Azure Timeline. Hence my creation: as an Anti-Sankishin Core Unit, I was supposed to fight the Sankishin and destroy the Master Unit. That would cause the destruction of our world even if I never merged with an Azure Grimoire to become a Black Beast, but I'm getting ahead of myself."

"Quite. I can see why the full explanation would take so long, if this is the abridged version." Riku was struggling to keep up.

"Anyway, since the Master Unit has no effect here in the Heart Timeline, it should have been impossible to pull off a phenomena intervention on Nu here. Since Observation can't be involved, the magic Nu mentioned came into play. Most people in the Azure Timeline can't use magic in its raw form. I certainly can't. The Nox Nyctores, the class of weapon I use, are the pinnacle of an alternative that fuses magic with technology to turn seithr into quasi-magical effects called Ars Magus. Seithr is more common than air in the Boundary, but the highly poisonous stuff has been seeping out into my homeworld for over a hundred years, so there's plenty to use up. Interestingly, Darkness works like a very effective seithr substitute here. Anyway, real, raw magic doesn't rely on seithr, so it would work regardless of the conditions. And it's scarily effective; there aren't many things that can stand against or counter a skilled mage. I guess we should count ourselves lucky that whoever took Nu didn't get us. And they don't seem to be Observing us or scrying on us, either."

"So we're safe, right?" Riku summed up.

"Not quite. This proves that the two continuities aren't separate anymore. We should be ready for more interference from the other side; I highly doubt my creator will keep his hands off a find like this."

"Who _is_ your creator, anyway?"

"A mad scientist named Relius Clover. From how he programmed me, I think his madness is more of the uncaring yet egoistic variety, as opposed to true malice. Doesn't make him any less dangerous, though. He views people as objects, and not just the people he built. My files say he used at least one member of his immediate family as a framework to construct some kind of combat puppet...while that person was conscious."

Riku shuddered. "Whoa... No wonder you don't want to go back."

"Exactly. His lack of empathy is unique, but racism is still a big problem. Even the fully-biological beastkin really get it in the shorts over there. 'Human' is very strictly defined, and anyone who doesn't fit that definition is a second-class citizen at best...and lynching isn't the worst that could happen. While I'm one of the few people that could cross the Boundary to use the rift, I am _not_ going back there."

"Riku, Lambda!" Mickey's voice called from down the path, interrupting further explanations. "I met with DiZ at the mansion down this way! I was wondering where you were." The King jogged up to them and skidded to a stop.

"We ran into someone from Lambda's world in the woods. How did you miss her lying on the ground?" Riku asked.

"I...kind of didn't watch my surroundings. I still need to work on that. Where is this person now?"

"She was pulled back to the Azure Timeline by someone on that side. Before that, though, she insisted we fight to the death to determine which of us was the superior Murakumo Unit." Lambda grimaced. "She nearly got us, too. We were doing pretty well, but we don't have the means to kill her when she and...I almost thought I knew the guy she was life-linked to. How do I know it's even a guy? Anyway, if they're not killed simultaneously, Nu-13 won't die. If she hadn't been yanked out, she would have kept going until we were both dead."

"Why would she do that? You didn't have to obey that programming when you got here."

"...The point of the Murakumo Project wasn't for us to have free will. Nu's two revisions newer than me, and her emotional locks are much stronger than mine were. Reasoning with her was not an option." Though it didn't stop Lambda from wishing she could have avoided their programmed fate of fighting her younger sister to the death forever. "Anyway, the fact she was dragged back by someone on that side means that our worlds are connected with a more stable link than I first thought. There are bad people on that side, and I bet on this side, too, that would abuse such a hole in the laws of our individual worlds. We've got to be careful. In the meantime, can you take us to DiZ, Mickey?"

"Yep! Right this way. I'm sure you'll recognize the place." Mickey dashed off at full tilt once more.

"Can't he move at any speed between 'stopped' and 'full steam ahead'...?" Lambda sighed as she and Riku chased after the mouse.

 **VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

 _Meanwhile, in the Azure Timeline: Kokonoe's Sector Seven branch..._

"Phew...Salvage of the 13th sample's soul was a success. With that, I can finish repairing Lambda. Right... I've gone way too far to stop short of some new atrocity now..." Kokonoe's yellow eyes fixed on the blonde girl floating in a customized regeneration tank. Lambda's own red eyes were open, but blank and unfocused. For the next five minutes or so, she would remain a soulless husk, and after that Kokonoe would have to wipe both Lambda's memories and any residue from Nu-13. It was intentionally too easy to reduce these Murakumo Units to voiceless tools, something she had Relius Clover to thank for, though of course she had no intention of thanking that bastard for anything. Kokonoe looked over the readouts and diagnostics of Lambda's reconstruction. It was working, but not fast enough. Terumi had dropped off all the sensors, something she hadn't expected him to do. Of course, Terumi couldn't be easily predicted except for his tendency to make everyone around him suffer a living hell, but completely dropping off the scanners she'd designed to track his soul's very specific frequency was new. She had to assume he was already planning something, and Kokonoe was already juggling way too many problems. She had to get the Eye before Terumi or any of the Sector's bigwigs did-her bosses they might be, but they were small-minded fools that had no right to call themselves scientists, and they could not be trusted with anything more powerful than a paintball gun, much less the Successor to the Azure. Add to that the weird silence in the Kagutsuchi NOL branch ever since yesterday, Hakumen's recapture (which was already done, but she had to check up on him periodically to be sure he hadn't just cut his way out somehow), and the disc she needed to get Tager to retrieve from their NOL contact, and it became apparent that she needed Lambda up and running as soon as possible or sooner. She couldn't afford to screw up with Lambda, though. She would have to approach perfection to be able to handle the IDEA Engine Kokonoe would be using to replace her wrecked Nox Nyctores.

Kokonoe briefly chuckled at the thought of her masterpiece, then had a sudden craving for some of Roy's coffee, because this was way more shit than she should have to handle without caffeine. She almost hit the intercom button when she remembered just what had happened to Roy. It had been...disturbing, watching the Azure eat at her apprentice until only a pile of tar and insects remained. And then Litchi had escaped on the trail of what was now called Arakune, and Kokonoe hadn't had coffee since. Damn it. She turned back to her keyboard, running the processes to restore Lambda's physical frame. One thing at a time...

 _Some day soon, though...I'll end you myself, Terumi. You can't hide forever._

Kokonoe cackled to herself as she made some more tweaks to her secret weapon...and the sustained-flight transformation for Tager. Upgrading that bucket of bolts without him knowing always lightened her mood...

 **VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

 _Thanks for waiting, and thanks for reading. If you favorited and/or followed this story last time, please remember to review this time! Next chapter: "You're the Real Sham!" Yep, the next chapter will include Riku's first fight with Xion. At minimum; I plan to include a bunch of other stuff, too. I just need to narrow down which stuff. Until next time!_


	4. I'm the Biggest Nobody of All

**Silver Linings**

 **Chapter 4: I'm the Biggest Nobody of All.**

 _A/N: Apologies for the extended delay, compared to other chapters. I was hoping I wouldn't fall back into the old habits so quickly..._

 _I think I discussed the content of this chapter with most of my reviewers, so I'll just say that the NEXT chapter might jump ahead in the timeline a bit. I got several ideas for scenes taking place in late KH2. Of course, I might be able to shelve these scenes for the proper time, and I got an interesting comment regarding Gag Reels and Bad Ends to try and work with..._

 **VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

 _With Riku and Lambda..._

Mickey led them to the mansion they'd seen in Castle Oblivion, although now the gate was wide open. Mickey charged past the fence and through the front door, which swung shut behind him before his friends finally caught up. Riku re-opened the door and let Lambda in before following. The interior of the mansion looked like it hadn't seen visitors in ages, and the last ones to come through had made the mess that monsters make. One door was completely inaccessible, a result of the frame and two nearby statues collapsing in front of it. Bits of rubble and cloth were strewn around the floor, and everything was covered in layers of dust. The only object in the atrium that didn't show signs of damage beyond the dust was a glass case in the very center, which contained what seemed to be a model of a castle. Behind that, two staircases symmetrically rose to the second floor, where they bent around the way Riku had come in to reach the two rooms with front facing windows.

Riku looked around for signs of Mickey, quickly spotting the disturbed dust from His Majesty's large shoes pounding through the room at full tilt. The tracks led to the side room across from the destroyed door, and Riku walked inside to see a dining room even worse off than the atrium. The table was the worst of the damage, having been smashed into multiple pieces by what looked like a single blow to the center of the tabletop. Whatever caused this damage would have needed inhuman strength, and Riku hoped he'd never be on the receiving end of such an assault. More importantly, Mickey was sitting in an old, high-backed chair on one side of the room, and DiZ was in a similar chair across from him. DiZ looked up, and frowned with disapproval at Riku and Lambda.

"Blast! This explains the increased activity from Organization XIII. Riku, I distinctly recall explaining to you that the cloak only masks you when the hood is worn. Put it on, now! They haven't found us yet, but they will soon if we don't throw them off the trail! We cannot allow them to discover this place!" DiZ had never raised his voice to this point before, so Riku and Lambda hurriedly responded to his urgency. Now with their identities properly concealed, they approached DiZ.

"Sorry. Is there anything we can do to distract the Organization?" Riku asked.

Lambda added, "Why do we want to avoid allowing them to find this place, anyway? It looks like a dump, no offense. Aren't there plenty of places to hide like this?"

"First, Lambda, this is where _he_ is sleeping. I can't divulge more details than that, since the Organization could be listening even now. I trust you can deduce to whom I refer?"

"Affirmative." Of course. This was where DiZ and Namine were keeping Sora.

"Anyway, this mansion also holds much of my research into our enemies and my computer equipment, which will be necessary to complete my goals, and to wake _him_. This equipment is not portable; I can't simply move it to a new location now that it is installed. As for Riku's question, you'll need to find another world to make yourselves seen. It seems that the Organization is conducting a search for you in Beast's Castle, a world that should have passing familiarity to Riku, although he's never been there. Go there now, and give them evidence for the wrong conclusions. If you happen to eliminate a member of Organization XIII during your stay, so much the better." DiZ raised a hand, and created a Dark Corridor.

"A Dark Corridor? Merlin says I shouldn't use more than one of those per day. After what happened last time, I don't want to risk it again." 

"I assume the 'last time' resulted in you wearing the blindfold? Now you know better than to try it with the hood down. With the hood and the blindfold, you shouldn't have too many problems. Go now, lest you endanger your friend." DiZ made a shooing motion, and Riku and Lambda stepped through.

 **VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

 _In Beast's Castle..._

On the other end of the Corridor, Riku found himself breathing heavily. Lambda stepped through afterward, and the Corridor disappeared immediately. Lambda rushed to Riku's side and placed a hand on his shoulder until his breathing was back under control.

"Note to self," Riku muttered, "don't assume extra layers of cloth will stop the Darkness from acting up. Also, don't trust DiZ to know these things." Riku stood up straight, and glanced around.

Twilight Town was predominantly yellow and brown, bathed in the light of a perpetual sunset that gave the whole world a quaint, homey atmosphere. This place seemed to be locked in eternal night, with a gray and blue color scheme that washed away good feelings and replaced them with pointy gargoyles. The current area seemed to be a bridge, which led from a locked steel gate towards a large, imposing castle from which the world most likely got its name. The intimidating architecture prompted Lambda to scan for threats, but there were none. She scolded herself for getting scared of inanimate objects.

"It doesn't seem like there's anyone outside. Should we check the castle interior?" Lambda asked.

"Probably. We should keep a low profile. If the Beast in Beast's Castle is the same one I met in Hollow Bastion, he won't give us a warm welcome. We didn't leave each other on friendly terms." Riku had mocked the Beast's endeavors before leaving a deep gash on his chest that hadn't stopped the strangely strong-willed animal from ripping a path open for Sora to enter Hollow Bastion's own castle. The Beast likely still held a grudge against Riku for standing in his way. Riku explained this to Lambda quickly, and she agreed that caution would be required here.

They almost got a chance to try sneaking around the Castle, but before they could walk up the front steps, a short person in a Black Coat shoved the front door open and stumbled out. "No sign of the imposter... Sai'x won't like it. Still, I'd better RTC..." The voice was female, but no details about the person could be discerned through the Black Coat, save that she was definitely a member of Organization XIII. She took the first step down the stairs before noticing the quarry she was apparently assigned to track. "Ah! You... you're the imposter, aren't you?" Xion jumped sideways to level ground, landing on the side closer to Riku than Lambda.

"I'm a little annoyed you didn't notice there are two of us," Lambda called over Riku's shoulder.

"Two imposters? That doesn't match the info I got, but I guess it's true. Why are you pretending to be with our Organization?" The girl was clearly trying to sound threatening, but her voice quavered in fear. Riku wasn't sure whether Nobodies could fake emotion well enough to fail to mask fear with bravado like that. If she were faking, she would just have the bravado, without any fear underneath. The other Organization members Riku had seen (and eliminated) thus far had never displayed this depth of emotion.

"Scanning... Target is a Nobody. Confidence in assessment: 75%. Differences between target and known Nobodies are pronounced enough to suggest a new classification," Lambda reported.

"What are you talking about? Of course I'm a Nobody!" The Organization member seemed to be trying to convince herself more than Lambda. "Aren't I...?" And she was failing at it.

"I hear you've been looking for me," Riku called. He removed his hood. "Now that you've found me, what are you going to do?"

"I'll make sure you never wear our coat again. If you do so willingly, I won't have to use force...unless I receive orders to the contrary later..."

"That doesn't sound very convincing. I'm keeping the Black Coat; I'm not wearing it to look like your group," Riku informed the girl with total confidence.

"Target's threat level rated as A-tier. I don't think we'll have any trouble with you 'using force'." Lambda prepared to summon Murakumo, just in case, but made no move just yet.

"I don't have to take that from you! Who _are_ you, anyway? Why do you talk like that? A-anyway, I'll show you trouble! I'm Xion, Number XIV in Organization XIII, and I'll make you pay for insulting me!" The girl thrust out her left hand, and a flash of blue-white Light heralded the summoning of...the Kingdom Key?! Riku seemed surprised, but unconcerned. He summoned Soul Eater and slid easily into his usual combat stance. Xion's reckless charge was effortlessly parried, and Riku knocked the Keyblade she somehow possessed out of her hands, spinning it up into the air to land next to her with a dull clang. Then he clocked her on the head with the hilt of his own blade, causing her to collapse.

"Well, that explains what was off about that Keyblade..." Riku mused as he walked away from his fallen foe, dismissing Soul Eater. Lambda hadn't sensed anything off about the weapon, so she was more confused than ever. However, she still noticed when Xion stumbled to her feet and yanked the Kingdom Key out of the ground. She charged at Riku with a wild yell that was decidedly less intimidating than it could be due to her high-pitched voice.

Riku didn't even re-summon his weapon. He spun gracefully around Xion's overhead slash, following the dodge with a hard elbow to the small of her back. Xion was sent sprawling over the pavement, and her Keyblade fell to the ground again next to her. Riku paced over to the fallen not-Nobody, and reached down to remove her hood. He chanced lifting the blindfold off of one eye, and gasped at whatever he'd seen of Xion's face.

As for Lambda, she hadn't actually seen the girl's face; it was blurred as though the gods had decided to censor the image before it reached Lambda's brain. That was definitely not normal.

Riku jerked back. "Who are you really? And why do you have a Keyblade?"

Xion only responded after pulling her hood back on. "Tell me first, why you are dressed as one of us." She was still stuck on that?

Riku turned away from her, towards the fallen Keyblade. "To make sure my best friend...sleeps in peace." Riku knelt down and picked up the Kingdom Key. He gave it a few experimental swings, and seemed satisfied that his original conclusions about the weapon held. It didn't pop back into Xion's hands, either. Riku continued talking as Xion grasped pitifully for the weapon beyond her reach. "I don't know who or what you're supposed to be...but you can't fight fire with sparks. This Keyblade, it's a sham...worthless." Riku tossed it over his shoulder like so much trash.

"My Keyblade is not a sham!" Xion growled. "What gives you the right to say that?"

Lambda spoke up. "Come on, he beat you unarmed, blindfolded, using only one elbow! The Keyblade is supposed to be a phenomenally powerful weapon. Where was that power for you? Maybe it's not just the Keyblade that's a sham here, Xion."

Xion's attempt to argue rationally failed as badly as everything else she'd done that day. "But...but you're the real shams!"

Riku paused. "Okay, I'll give you that. I guess you could say that we're the biggest Nobodies of them all. My advice: find a new crowd. Those guys are bad news." Riku didn't look back as he and Lambda wandered back towards the bridge. Behind them, they could hear Xion's wordless scream of anguish.

"Do you think I laid it on a little thick, Riku?" Lambda asked as they left Xion's earshot.

Riku flip-flopped his hand; it could go either way. "Maybe. She doesn't seem to fit with those other Organization members, so there might have been hope she'd defect eventually. Then there's that business with Xion being Number XIV, in an Organization numbered XIII. Why would they have that name if they were planning on having more members?"

"I guess I might have messed up any chance of getting her on our side, then... Sorry, Riku."

"Shouldn't you be saying, 'Sorry, Xion?' Anyway, did you see her face?"

"No. It was like someone blurred that part of her on purpose. I didn't know people could be censored like that outside of the media."

"Really? I just saw a girl who looked like Kairi with black hair. Weird; does she have some connection with Kairi?"

"If she does, it only shows for people who share that connection. I should probably be more empathetic with faceless minions... Sorry, Xion." Even if Xion couldn't hear Lambda say it by now. "Hey, Riku? Where do we go next? Should we camp here, or risk another Dark Corridor?" They'd come to the edge of the Beast's property, and were blocked by the sturdy gate.

Riku tapped his chin, weighing their options. "Well, we can't really spend the night outdoors; it looks like it's going to rain soon. On the other hand, using a Dark Corridor again so soon could be really bad for me. I think Xion already left through a Corridor of her own; I sensed one in the corner of that courtyard. So we could try and brave the Castle."

"What if we run into the Beast? Will he attack?"

"...Only if he sees us. I think he actually owns the Castle; if he does, he wouldn't go to the servants' quarters very often at all. We might be able to hide there." Lambda agreed that this was, if not a good plan, at least a workable one. She scanned the floor plan of the Castle from the front steps, and relayed to Riku that the servants' quarters were likely to be adjacent to the main entrance hall. The two made the relatively short trek without being seen.

"This is a really odd place," Lambda whispered as they skulked through a hallway lined with small, empty bedrooms. "I'm sensing a lot of living souls in this castle, but only one source of human life signs. I don't think the bulk of the people here are human. None of these gargoyles we keep passing are alive, but I picked up signs from inside one of the drawers two rooms back."

"In the drawers? What kind of intelligent creature sleeps in a drawer?" Riku wondered.

"Cats, for one, including intelligent cat beastkin from the Azure Timeline, but I don't think it's anything that mundane. We might be dealing with animated objects."

"Like that duster?" Riku pulled Lambda into a side room as a feather duster, which seemed to be dusting along the floor without the support of a hand, turned a corner to pass further ahead in the hall. The strangest part was the French accent the duster was singing to...herself in. "Yep, it's definitely the objects around here. How many of these things are actually people?" Was the bed safe to sleep in? Would animated-object servants even sleep in a bed? Was the bed itself another animated-object servant?

"Scanning... Zero results. No one's in this room but us. I think we can use this bed for the night."

"One bed for both of us...?" Riku wondered if this was heading where he thought it was heading.

"Not like that, Riku. We're keeping a low profile, remember? We can't afford to give our position away by doing anything on that bed other than sleeping."

"...Does that mean you'd be up for it if we weren't undercover?"

"...Maybe someday. There's no rush just yet." Lambda lightly bopped Riku on top of his head with the heel of her palm, then kissed his cheek. "No hard feelings? We really should get to sleep, though."

"Yeah. I'm beat." Riku made sure to return the kiss, then flopped into bed. He scooted over to make room for Lambda, and the two fell into a mercifully uninterrupted sleep for the first time in almost a month.

 **VVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

 _Meanwhile, in Twilight Town (currently seven hours ahead of standard Heart Timeline time; this would be tomorrow from Riku's reference point)..._

Xion wandered through town, searching for the giant Heartless that Sai'x had called a Veil Lizard. The Organization's taskmaster had _not_ been pleased that Xion had found the imposters, but had been unable to dispatch them. She got the feeling that the only reason she hadn't been terminated or turned into a Dusk then and there was because they still needed her Keyblade. Roxas had just woken up, though, so she needed to make herself doubly useful to the Organization before they decided she was just another liability. It was twisted, it was _wrong_ , but it was her life. She had to prove she could kill this Heartless on her own, for her own safety.

A squad of Yellow Operas formed in front of her, providing her with an opportunity to benefit the Organization in the interim. She just had to slay these pests with her Keyblade...

No response. Xion tried again, and again. No good! Why had the Keyblade deserted her? Was it somehow mad at her for believing those imposters, even for a moment? Had it been destroyed when it disappeared yesterday? Where was it?!

Xion was forced to ward off the Heartless with Fire and Blizzard spells, thankful that she was a good caster, at least. However, the hearts released on the monsters' demise only floated up so far before they angled back down into another part of Twilight Town. Without the Keyblade, killing the Heartless could only be a temporary fix, one that would not benefit the Organization in any way.

"Am I...? I really am useless now..." Well, she couldn't RTC without destroying the Veil Lizard, and she couldn't destroy the Veil Lizard without her Keyblade. She'd have to lie low in Twilight Town until she could get her Keyblade back...however long it took.

Xion stumbled into the tunnels underneath Twilight Town, wondering why she deserved this much trouble.

 **VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

 _A/N: I could use a few reasons to bring in people or scenes from the Azure Timeline. Any ideas you'd like to see written? Tell me in the reviews!_


	5. They Were a Real Nuisance

**Silver Linings**

 **Chapter 5: They Were a Real Nuisance.**

 _A/N: I figured I'd wait about a week to get started on this, to give people time to read the last chapter. I'm not worried about only getting one review, because at least two people followed my profile since then. Still, I'd prefer it if people reviewed after reading._

 _Here we have a quick cut to the Azure Timeline. Terumi's time in the Heart Timeline is up, and Kokonoe demonstrated that it's possible to drag him back without going over there. A good question would be, "What is Relius NOT watching with Phantom's scrying magic?" Meanwhile in Kagutsuchi, Terumi has to make up for lost time that he could have spent messing with people. He has his fingers in a lot of pies._

 **VVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

 _In the halls of the Castle That Never Was..._

 _"Terumi. Your time is up, according to my wall clock. I'll be bringing you back now."_ Relius' voice intruded into Terumi's disgusting consciousness.

"I thought you said ten days? Over here it's only been two." Terumi spoke aloud, since there wasn't anyone around.

 _"You know that time is fluid in the Boundary. I would have needed more preparation to make my estimate be worth any more than an educated guess. At any rate, events in Kagutsuchi are proceeding rapidly. The Izayoi's wielder has departed there; I had to deliver the orders myself. I don't have time to send Phantom or Ignis to fetch you, even if it turns out to be possible. Hold still..."_ Terumi was suddenly frozen in place. A magic circle spread out from his feet, and the air crackled as the spell took effect. The Black Coat fluttered to the ground as Terumi's essence was yanked back through the Time Break...

Back in one of the Organization's personal chambers, Xigbar put up his hood. He was no stranger to spying on people and events through his space-manipulating powers. This time, he'd actually been ordered to do it by the Superior himself! And man, did the Freeshooter strike pay dirt on this one...

 **VVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

 _In Relius Clover's hidden lab..._

Hazama rose from the stasis pod, rubbing the back of his head. "Ouch. Would it kill you to put a pillow in that thing?"

"No, but there's no guarantee _you'd_ survive when the pillow freezes and shatters in cryogenic stasis. Report."

"Ugh, alright. I have confirmation of at least three 'Realms' and numerous 'worlds' on the other side of the Time Break. They seem to have a split between Light and Darkness over there, with a Realm for each, and smaller worlds scattered all over the Realm of Light. The interesting part is that the Darkness makes an excellent substitute for seithr. I would have had to cut you for this if it didn't."

"How is their government organized?" Relius very pointedly did not respond to Hazama's token threat.

"As far as I can tell, it's every world to itself. Worlds over there are smaller and closer together than you'd think, but everyone I've met agrees that travel between them is a big no-no. I'll put the details in a report for you later. Right now, I've got a few loose ends to tie up in Kagutsuchi, so I'll be borrowing the Phantom for now." Hazama swung a leg over the rim of the pod and made to leave.

"Do as you will. Be sure that your scheming accomplishes our objective, however. We have no time to indulge your appetite for pointless chaos." Relius didn't watch Hazama go, instead turning back to his monitors.

"Of course! I always have my objectives in mind. The first thing will be to set up the cocoon and round up a few sacrifices..." Phantom briefly appeared in the room, then disappeared with Hazama in tow.

 **VVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

 _In the 13th Hierarchical City, Kagutsuchi..._

"I wonder, could today possibly get any better?" Hazama mused as he whipped Ragna the Bloodedge with Ouroboros again and again. "Still alive in there? Ooh, and even trying to get up!"

"Shut up! I promised...that I would fight...as a human being...until the end! Until the very end!" Ragna shakily rose to his feet, but he was no better off now than he was three seconds ago.

"Ouroboros!" The chain lashed out again, this time aiming for Ragna's guts instead of his limbs. Ragna barely got his giant sword into the path of the attack, but the force of it knocked him over. "You picked a fine time to grow a pair, didn't ya!? Die die DIE!" The attacks continued. They didn't cut very deep, but to Hazama, the best part was watching the despair in his foes' eyes as they bled out... Of course, there were other things to do today. "Okay, that's enough playing with my food for now. Gotta check on Kusanagi; she should have killed the Master Unit by now, unless Hakky's still holding her up."

"Dammit, Noel-Agh!" Ragna's renewed effort to get past Hazama was stopped by another chain.

"And here's the last blow. Thanks for the good time, Rags! Now, die!"

Here it came. Ragna watched the chain shooting right for his heart. He tried to block again, but he couldn't so much as move his arms. The adrenaline slowed the scene to a crawl in his eyes, watching death inch closer and closer. Then came a splash of blood on his face...but the blood wasn't his.

The Murakumo Unit that Kokonoe called Lambda, but Ragna could only really call Nu, had interposed her own back to defend Ragna from the last blow. Hazama seethed and launched another chain. "You goddamn puppets, always getting in my way! Fine then. You want it so bad, you can die together with him!" The second blow held nothing back. Lambda's armor broke off of her bodysuit, and her bloodied form slumped down into Ragna's arms.

"R...Ragna! It's been a long time..." Despite the fact that the Prime Field Device was damaged beyond repair and Hazama was right there, she gave Ragna a warm smile as she spoke in Nu's voice.

"Nu...why?"

"For a long time, Nu was all by herself...Out in the Boundary. Then, there was somewhere else...fighting her sister like Relius wanted her to. But the important part was that Nu wasn't lonely... I kept dreaming about...you..."

This was very unlike the last time Ragna had seen Nu. Like this, all he could say was, "I'm sorry, Nu..." He hadn't been able to prevent her from dying again... How many times did this make, now?

"It's okay, Ragna. Nu got to see you again. Nu will always be...by your side...Ragna..." This was when something really strange happened. Something impossible. Lambda began to glow with a golden light, and disappeared from the toes up. Then, the light left behind swirled into Ragna's left arm. Ragna would have expected her soul to go for his right arm, the Azure Grimoire, but he could feel the power she'd just given him, waiting to be used. The golden glow surrounded Ragna now, sealing up his wounds and allowing him to stand up.

In Ragna's head, Kokonoe's radio squawked. "How... That's impossible! Did you absorb Lambda's IDEA Engine?" So that's what this was. And...yes! With this, Ragna could win!

"Hey, guys?" Hazama asked. "It really hurts when you just forget about me like that. Your little soap opera was a real hoot, but I...whoa, what's this? Are you actually up for round two?"

Ragna's lips twisted into a vicious smirk. "I didn't forget about you. Let's go. Restriction 666 released." He raised his right hand in a fist, with the lens on the back facing out in front of his eye.

Hazama scoffed. "We went through this! You even tried again, just in case it was a fluke!"

"Dimensional interference field deployed!" A field of blue energy surrounded Ragna. The lid on his fist opened and shined with blue light.

"Are you stupid, or what?"

 _"Nu will always be by your side, Ragna."_

"Now activating the IDEA Engine!" Ragna raised his left fist, crossing over his right. The lid that now adorned the back of that fist opened and shined with golden light.

"...Say what? What the hell is that?"

"It's time I showed you the TRUE power of the Azure! Blazblue, _ACTIVATE!_ " Ragna thrust his arms out to the sides, both hands blazing with power. "Time to die, you degenerate son of a bitch!" Ragna drew Blood-Scythe, now glowing with the power to reap souls.

For the first time ever, Terumi felt fear. "What...what the hell is this? Why can't I shut it down? How are you doing that?"

Rather than answer the question, Ragna dashed forward. "Hell's Fang!" Unlike the last time he'd tried this, Terumi was blasted backwards, slamming into the empty Monolith with the force of a blockbuster bomb. Ragna didn't let up. "Gauntlet Hades!" His leaping kicks carried him over to Terumi and caught him before he could fall. Terumi found himself unable to muster any sort of resistance like he had before. The tables were turned completely, and in minutes the green-haired serpent was soundly beaten into a bloody pulp on the floor.

That was when he remembered his insurance. This was, after all, the whole point of the plan. "Hyurk... Ha ha ha! You done yet, Ragna?! Come on, I need more! You haven't killed me yet!" Terumi forced his patented smirk onto his face despite coughing up what felt like his whole lung.

"Whatever. That life-link you forced on Noel will make killing you a bitch. You're not worth my time right now. Just lie there and bleed for a while." Ragna turned around and dashed for the basement. He had friends to save.

"Heh, heh. Relius? Now would be an excellent time!" Hazama called out to thin air, and was rewarded by a massive purple limb reaching from nowhere, ripping his throat out with its claws. Terumi's essence rose from the wound. "Now, I guess we wait for Rags to win or lose. Either way, I win in the end!"

 **VVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

 _In Beast's Castle..._

Lambda stirred from a fitful sleep, plagued with nightmares. "Who...who was that? Ragna the Bloodedge...and me? Why was I there? And why am I glowing right now?!" Lambda jumped out of bed and did a quick diagnostic. Energy was flowing in from the Boundary, from another version of herself. "So it wasn't a dream, then... What's going on over there?" The diagnostic completed quickly, and the golden light faded for now. _Diagnostic complete. System update recognized. IDEA Engine replica online and functioning at 95% of projected capacity. Integration with Lux Sanctus: Murakumo complete. Estimated increase in combat ability: 130%. Total improvement over baseline: 330%._

"Lambda, what are you doing up?" Riku wondered as he stretched out in the bed.

"...Did you see that glow?" Lambda asked, still running simulations to work out how best to use this boost.

"No. Blindfold, remember? If it's not Darkness, I can't see it."

"I guess you wouldn't have, then. I think another version of 'me' just died in the Azure Timeline. When they did, they left an upgrade behind for Ragna the Bloodedge...the relationship between him and myself is really complicated. I got a copy of this IDEA Engine, too, though I'm not really sure why or how. What I do know is that it doesn't run on magic, seithr, or Darkness, and it's boosting Murakumo's power by 130%. Overall, this is a good thing for us."

"Cool, a power boost. Still, that means you died in another world, and I slept through it."

"I was sleeping, too. My dream showed the other me dying to save Ragna the Bloodedge, but nothing before that. That was my first dream; it wasn't a good first impression. And I couldn't see whether or not it worked. Did Ragna die?" 

"Who is Ragna the Bloodedge, anyway? This is the first time I'm hearing about him."

"I think he's the guy I mentioned when we fought Nu. As for who he is, that's up for debate. The closest thing for me is that he's the brother of my template. Every Prime Field Device since at least the 10th subject has been based on the same person, don't ask me why. It really jumbles up the emotions triggered by Ragna, though. Nu seems to angle more towards romantic feelings, though she took them to a downright creepy extreme. At any rate, Ragna's part of the Azure Timeline. We probably won't meet him, even if he does live beyond today. Right now, we've got to get out of this castle before someone comes by to dust this room."

"Right. Let's make the Corridor outside." The pair wandered out of the servants' quarters and back to the entrance hall, but there was another person in a Black Coat in that room. "Why is this place so popular, anyway?" Riku wondered aloud for the blond boy to hear.

"Huh? Who are you people? Are you those imposters Xion was tailing?"

"I guess we are. Who are you, then?" Riku replied.

"I'm Roxas, Number XIII. You really hurt Xion yesterday. Say you're sorry!"

"I'm sorry, Roxas," Lambda replied. "I was too harsh with her. I do have a soft spot for faceless minions, so I'll apologize for what I said if I ever meet her in person again."

"Faceless? What are you talking about?"

"What do you see when you look at her?" Riku asked from under his hood. "I saw a girl with black hair, but Lambda saw a blurry mess. Does everyone see something different, looking at her?"

"I see the black-haired girl, too. Are you sure _she's_ not the one who's messed up?" Roxas pointed at Lambda, whose hood was also still up.

"Okay, now _you're_ asking for it. That's my girlfriend you're insulting." Riku summoned Soul Eater.

"So you want to fight? Fine. I was sick of this boring mission, anyway!" Roxas held out his right hand, and summoned...the Kingdom Key. "Let's go!"

"You have it, too? It seems like everyone has that one. Xion couldn't beat me with that thing. Last chance to back out, Roxas." Riku entered his fighting stance.

"No way!" Roxas charged at Riku exactly the same way Xion had. The difference was that Roxas kept his grip on the Keyblade when Riku knocked it upward. He still couldn't get away from Riku's responding Dark Firaga blast, and fell on his back a few feet away.

"Huh. It seems like your Keyblade is the real deal. You still need to work on your skills, though. Go on back to your Organization; Xion is probably waiting for you. But I wouldn't trust that crowd any further than I could throw them, just so you know. Maybe later, Roxas." Riku formed a Dark Corridor, and Lambda followed him through it before Roxas could catch up.

 **VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

 _By Sora's pod in Twilight Town..._

"No...!" Namine was looking at the chain of memories she was trying to repair, but there was no getting around this. Some of the most important memories were just...gone.

"What is the problem, Namine?" DiZ stalked up behind her. The man had an infamous intolerance for Nobodies like Namine. If it weren't for the fact that he still needed her, Namine had no doubt that DiZ would have eliminated her already. "Sora's progress has been much slower than you said to expect."

"I'm trying to put the memories back where they belong, but some of them are...missing. I can't finish if I don't have all the pieces."

"I'm sure he can do without a few memories."

"Perhaps, but these are the most important ones... They're the ones with her. Without them, he may never wake up. I think someone else caught the memories, and they're being kept from him."

"Sounds like the work of those Organization miscreants. Is there a way to fix this?"

"I don't know, but if his memories become her memories... She will never survive it."

DiZ glared at her sharply. This was new information. "She?"

"I'm pretty sure she is, yes. If Xion gets enough memories, they'll start pulling her back here, whether the Organization wants her to go or not. The problem is that with such a complete replica of Sora, they could do other things before she leaves. And they're still working on Kingdom Hearts with her Keyblade and Roxas'. Could we fight a whole army of replica Soras?"

"Blast! This is spiraling out of control! We can't do much from here. Must the whole plan rely on luck?" DiZ stormed out of the room, and didn't hear Namine's next words.

"Not entirely... After all, that's why you're here, right, Riku?"

 **VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

 _With Riku..._

Apart from a few seconds of dizziness, Riku had gotten through the Dark Corridor mostly okay. The world he found himself in... Definitely Hollow Bastion. This was definitely the interior of the castle there, the part of the world he was most familiar with. He hadn't really set a definite destination, so he was a little surprised he'd ended up in familiar territory.

"Well, Lambda, it looks like we're back in Hollow Bastion..."

No response.

"Lambda? Where are you? Lambda!" She wasn't in the hallway with him. She probably wasn't even on the same world right now. An even more terrifying thought: what if she wasn't in _any_ world? How could Riku have been so stupid, using the Darkness so carelessly?!

"Hello! Mind if I pass by here?" A woman's voice called, one Riku didn't recognize. "I'm looking for someone. Tall, blond, spiky hair, a bit moody. Do you know anyone like that? My name's Tifa Lockhart, by the way."

"Well, I met one moody guy with blond spiky hair...probably today, but he was shorter than me. Would this person's name be Roxas?" Riku wondered. He didn't remove his hood. True, the lady who appeared behind him had a nice voice, a powerful aura of Light, and...quite possibly the biggest chest he'd ever seen, but Riku didn't hand out trust like Halloween Town candy the way Sora did.

"No, that's not him. I guess I'll keep looking..." Tifa sighed with an air of familiarity. She must have been at this search of hers for quite some time with no luck. Kind of like Riku had while looking for strength, though Tifa wasn't taking detours down the path of Darkness like he was. Well, he couldn't start searching for Lambda until tomorrow, or the Darkness would mess him up worse. Might as well follow...where did she go?

Tifa had already passed Riku and moved into a messy room that might have been an office at some point. Riku didn't remember ever seeing this here. Tifa began tearing up the room, lifting furniture with one hand and punching walls. Riku asked, "How would this person you're looking for be hiding behind the bookshelf?" Never mind how strong this woman had to be, to lift that thing with no effort.

Tifa paused for a second. "Oh. Oops. I guess I went a little too far. He's not here, either... Where could you be, Cloud...? Tifa wandered out the door, but when Riku went to follow, she was gone. Her footprints in the dust just stopped a few paces away, like Tifa had stopped existing at that point.

"Okay, never mind who, _what_ is she?" Still, Riku felt like he should look around this room some more himself. Especially with that giant picture of Ansem on the wall. There could be some useful information in some of these documents. "Was this his room?"

Riku ran his fingers along the far wall, stopping when a square section pushed inward under his touch. The entire wall flashed white and disappeared, revealing a catwalk over a vast room with very different construction. "What in the worlds..."

It looked like Riku had plenty of things to look into while he waited for his chance to search for Lambda.

 **VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

 _Meanwhile, with Lambda..._

"Olympus Coliseum? Why are we here, Riku? ...Riku?" Proximity sensors determined that there was nobody else in the wide courtyard. Riku had been separated from her in the Darkness, and getting a fix on him from another world wasn't easy. Using her dark-sense in tandem with her longest-range scanners, Lambda confirmed that Riku was still...somewhere in the Realm of Light. Not anywhere nearby, or his aura would be clearer. Lambda needed more information before trying to jump between worlds herself. She knew the theory of how to build a Dark Corridor from watching Riku, DiZ, and the Organization do it, but if she tried it now, she'd just end up more lost.

"Ugh, a bunch of rookies. If Herc were here, at least we'd have _one_ genuine hero to keep the Games from being a total waste of drachmas." The voice belonged to a very short old man coming through the gates from the Coliseum proper. On closer inspection, the man had goat horns and haunches, and didn't seem to be wearing anything other than the thick fur on his lower half. Lambda stood perfectly still, wondering if talking to this person would blow her cover or count as meddling in other worlds. He did seem to have general knowledge about this world...

Her decision was made for her when he looked up and spotted her. "Heya, sweet-cheeks, name's Philoctetes, but you can call me Phil. What brings you to the Coliseum? The games, the heroes, or...me?"

Lambda was hit with a wave of revulsion. The weirdo was hitting on her! He even slicked what was left of his hair back with his spit... "Yuck. No, I'm..."

Phil interrupted her by clapping his fist on his palm. Lambda could practically see the light bulb (or Ancient Greek equivalent) turn on above his head, though he'd definitely come to the wrong conclusion. "Oh, you must be the new trainee Hercules said he was sending! Gotta hand it to him, he knows how to pick 'em almost as well as I do!" Phil barged on, a conversational avalanche that no amount of Lambda's sputtering and halfway-formed denials could stop. "Let's see... Good posture, strong limbs... Got any weapons under that cloak? Well, in you get! Training starts now! We've got fifty laps and the barrel course to get through before tonight's Games!" Phil got behind Lambda and started shoving her legs with surprising strength for such a fat old guy. He herded her into the Coliseum.

"Fifty!?" Lambda debated just summoning Murakumo and forcing him off her long enough to explain, but given his earlier comments, that might just make things worse. She decided to wait until he was done assigning training courses to bring up the facts that she had never heard of any Hercules except in old Greek legends, and he certainly hadn't sent her here. Surely she could handle fifty laps. And if he had a problem with her floating the whole way, it served him right. Then she could get back to searching for Riku.

 **VVVVVVVVVVVVV**

 _The next couple chapters will have Riku and Lambda split up, as you can see. Got any ideas for which world(s) Lambda should visit next? I've got a couple scenes in Hollow Bastion to get through before Riku goes anywhere, since now's the perfect time to cover a certain plothole left behind after KH2 and he can't leave until the next day._


	6. It Is This World That Is Insane

**Silver Linings**

 **Chapter 6: It Is This World That Is Insane**

 _A/N: Getting started on Chapter 6 the night before returning home for the weekend probably isn't a good idea... Anyway, while Riku is investigating the Heartless Manufactory, and while Lambda's fleeing from Phil, legendary pervert-I mean trainer of heroes, Relius Clover is making a profound discovery. Kokonoe's not out of the loop anymore, either. The two continuums draw ever closer..._

 **VVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

 _With Riku..._

The catwalk led to a computer terminal in a room overlooking a vast, artificial chasm lined with capsules and generators. Unlike Sora, Riku had a computer in his room on the Destiny Islands, so he knew that typing "Ansem" into the search box should have come up with a password prompt. But when he tried it, he got a very different message, spoken over hidden speakers in the room: "USER ACCESS DENIED BY THE MCP. YOU HAVE 3 WARNINGS LEFT BEFORE DRASTIC ACTION." Riku decided to leave the terminal alone before this "MCP" followed through on its threat. Instead, he walked over to the far door. Flipping up his blindfold, he saw that it had a hand scanner next to it. Riku laid his hand on it, certain that he would be rejected and have two warnings left before "drastic action."

The scanner console beeped, the buttons turned from red to green, and displayed the message, "WELCOME, XEHANORT." The door in question slid open with a hiss.

"Who in the worlds is Xehanort?" Riku had a guess, and it was hanging on the wall back in the messy office in larger-than-life oils. But why would he pick a pseudonym like "Ansem?" Did he just like having fewer syllables? Well, this was the first time Ansem, Seeker of Darkness, had done anything remotely useful for Riku, even if it certainly wasn't Ansem's idea. Riku stepped through the door and descended some stairs to the floor of the enormous outer room. This empty space had a few strange, gun-like devices pointing down at it. Whatever they were supposed to do, Riku stayed clear of them as he walked to the center of the platform, but they didn't react anyway.

What did react was the platform itself. As soon as Riku stood in the exact center of the room, part of the floor began to descend like an elevator with Riku on it. Intrigued, Riku waited for the elevator to stop before going even further down on a winding staircase. After a while, Riku stopped questioning the mysteries of this place, and started cursing out the inventor of spiral staircases for allowing a stairway this deep to exist.

"If I ever end up meeting the person who designed this lab, I'm going to push him down these stairs to show him the error of his ways. If it turns out this room was designed by Ansem, or Xehanort, or whatever he is, that'll be even better... Darkness take it all, how many more stairs can there be?"

It took ten minutes to reach the bottom of the stairs. The door at the end opened to a stark white corridor lined with sealed white doors, not that Riku could see them through his blindfold. However, he could sense the weird symbol posted in between pairs of doors. "This must be the symbol of the Nobodies..." The doors themselves were locked tight, and nothing could be sensed beyond them. Riku continued down the hallway until he reached the large, decorated door at the end. He pushed it open and examined the room beyond.

There was a throne in the middle of the room. Chain-like designs pulsing with energy ran from Nobody emblems on the walls over the floor to the throne, on which sat an empty suit of blue armor. And clutched in its right gauntlet was a Keyblade.

Riku didn't recognize the design of this one, but this had to be its base form, because the blue Keyblade with triangular designs on the teeth had no Keychain. Riku reached down and attempted to pry the weapon from the armor's grasp. It gave way easily-clearly the armor was empty, and not about to animate itself to attack Riku. Phew.

The instant Riku had a firm grip on the mystery Keyblade, it vanished from the room. It didn't reappear where he'd found it. Attempting to summon it only called Riku's Soul Eater. "I guess it's not mine, then. Whoever you are, I guess you want me to be the 'delivery boy' for the true wielder of your Keyblade." Riku spoke aloud to the empty armor. He felt a little silly, but also knew this had to be done right. "I'll do my best, then. I probably deserve the grunt work, after what happened the last time I was in this castle. Let me know when I've found the right person." Riku turned and left the room, looking back from behind his blindfold as the doors slid shut and sealed the room. He went on his way, until... "Why, oh why does this place have so many stairs?!" He resigned himself to a long climb out of the secret basement.

 **VVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

 _With Lambda_...

"Hey, hey, hey! Levitatin' is cheating! Now you get an extra seventy laps!" At least Phil wasn't ogling the poor Prime Field Device right now. "Now get sweating already! I'll just enjoy the show..."

 _NOPE._ "Seventy?! You know, I _was_ going to explain that I've never met any-"

"Less talking, more running!"

"...But now I'm going to just leave. Bye!" Lambda opened a Corridor of Darkness ahead of her on the oval-shaped course. Getting more lost was a trivial concern if it meant she didn't have to spend one more second listening to Phil.

"...Geez, they're all the same. Every last chick in Greece, blind to greatness..."

 **VVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

Lambda emerged from the Dark Corridor in a normal-seeming room. To closer observation (and not even Observation with a capital O), however, there were several oddities that made the whole room seem...off. All the furniture was slightly undersized, so if Lambda were to sit in the chairs, she'd be squished between the armrests. Some objects, like a flowerpot in the corner and a book on a table in the opposite corner, weren't objects at all, but cleverly-shaded two-dimensional pictures. Lambda tried to remember if she'd seen this place before. _Error. Memory files quarantined. Open quarantine? Y/N?_ _N._

Now she remembered...enough, anyway. She'd locked those files away herself, because nothing in Wonderland made any sense. Lambda resolved to spend as little time here as possible, but opening another Corridor here was almost bound to lead somewhere even worse. Like Atlantica, maybe... Lambda shuddered at the thought. Instead of trying to leave the world just yet, she searched for potential exits to this room. There was a hole behind the bed, and shoving the bed made it flatten into the wall, revealing the hole. However, Lambda couldn't squeeze through the hole afterward, unless she got smaller, somehow. _Ridiculous. Where would an idea like that come from?_ Then she realized that such a nonsensical solution might actually work here. She turned back towards the central table, and right on cue, two bottles of unidentifiable liquid appeared in puffs of smoke. Lambda ran the two liquids through every chemical and spectroscopic analysis routine she could think of, but nothing could determine what was in these bottles, or even differentiate between the two. All she had to go on were the labels on the bottles. The blue label had a big yellow silhouette of a tree on it, then an arrow pointing right, then a smaller tree. That was probably the right one, but she checked the red one just to be sure. Yes, the red label was the same as the blue one, in reverse order. She picked up the blue-labeled bottle, flipped open its lid and tipped a gulp of the contents into her mouth. "Here goes nothing..." Lambda experienced a few seconds of extreme dizziness. When the disorientation passed, she stood only a few inches tall, and had somehow ended up on top of the table. "Don't question it, just move on... Oh dear, I'm talking to myself now..."

"Oh dear! Oh dear, oh dear! I'm late, I'm late, I'm late!" A bipedal white rabbit rushed past below Lambda carrying a comparatively oversized gold pocketwatch, and ran through a door that was previously only big enough for a doll, but now Lambda was doll-sized, too. That thought struck a little close to home as Lambda jumped off the table and tried the door herself.

"Ow, ow, ow! Did you have to wake me up by twisting my knob? Wouldn't a 'hello' have sufficed?" The Doorknob grumbled, badly startling Lambda.

Lambda pulled off her hood to look the Doorknob in the eyes it apparently had. "Sorry, I thought you were just another inanimate doorknob. Generally, doors open when I twist the knob. It was a misunderstanding." 

"Oh, you have those? This isn't a good place for you, then... Good night. _This_ door is locked, so don't twist my knob again. There's a perfectly good detour behind the bed, you know..." The Doorknob yawned, closed its tiny yellow eyes, and went back to its perpetual nap. Lambda gave up and went through the hole she'd exposed earlier.

The area beyond the pitch-black "depths" of the hole behind the bed was a well-kept rose garden, though "depths" had to be put in quotation marks in this case because the pitch-black part of the tunnel was only as thick as a sheet of paper. The square root law of radiation dispersal apparently held no more force here than any other physical axiom. Lambda was getting a headache again. She didn't have time to dwell on it, though, as a more pressing alert hit her consciousness: _Time disruption detected. Subjective time halted throughout visible range._ As a unit designed to function in the Boundary, where time was less of a line and more like a ball of wibbly-wobbly timey-wimey stuff, Lambda was equipped with a keen ability to know when time wasn't functioning like it should. That description of Boundary time wasn't something Lambda came up with on the spot, and it wasn't a programmed definition. It was probably another way Wonderland was getting to the Murakumo Unit's sanity. The actual time-stopping field didn't seem like one of this world's usual "quirks," though.

"Summoning Lux Sanctus! IDEA Engine linked! Murakumo, activate!" Lambda armed herself in time to whip around and see the Dark Corridor forming behind her. Out stepped a man with short, blond hair, a bit of facial stubble, and a strange white symbol on the piercings in his ears. He wore the Black Coat of the Organization, of course.

"Ah, so you felt it! Very unusual... Normally, no one notices time stopping around them unless something else was moving at that moment. I set this up to block any local madmen from interfering with our meeting, but it seems I also lost the upper hand. Now you know my trump card, after all."

"Why are you people following Riku and me around?" Lambda asked, since it seemed that the newcomer wanted to talk first and shoot later-a nice change of pace from the Heartless.

"We were only informed of Riku. It seems a rather crucial piece was missing from our board this whole time! Even so, it seems strange that the two of you are separate. A single pair is the weakest set, but it would still be a better bet than your current odds."

"Do you always talk in game metaphors... Um, what's your name?"

"I never tip my hand before my opponent."

"I'll take that as a 'yes' regarding the metaphors. I'm Lambda-11. _Now_ will you tell me your name?"

"Quite so. I am Luxord, Number X in Organization XIII. You and Riku must have been among those who eliminated our comrades at Castle Oblivion, weren't you?"

"What if I was? Each of them was clearly asking for it. We were only personally responsible for eliminating Lexaeus, and that was more Ansem's doing than Riku's. Zexion got the worst beating of pretty much anyone we fought there, but he got away just in time to be absorbed by the Riku Replica. You Organization members have the worst luck."

"Perhaps they did, but Lady Luck is my ally. And I'm always on top of my game. My orders are to observe this world for future exploits, but all of us have been told to be on the lookout for the imposter who wears our coat. And if any one of us finds him...or her, as the case may be, we are to, and I quote, 'terminate with extreme prejudice.' Let's begin, shall we? I'll take the first move!" From a pocket of his Black Coat, Luxord drew a weapon that was perhaps even more ridiculous than Zexion's book: a standard deck of fifty-two playing cards. As he flung them forward, they enlarged and shot towards Lambda with deadly speed and razor-sharp edges. A papercut would have been the least of Lambda's worries, if she'd been standing where she started. A quick sidestep brought her clear of the swirling cards, and she launched a Sword Summoner at the Gambler of Fate to test the waters. Interestingly, the summoned sword was green, not red like they'd been up until now. Lambda guessed that the IDEA Engine was the cause, and ran a background diagnostic as she dodged the completely unscathed Luxord's next barrage.

 _Combat readiness diagnostic complete. IDEA Engine online. Synchronization with Lux Sanctus: Murakumo: 25%. Synchronization with self: 15%. Overall synchronization: 20%. Projected synchronization rate will improve when attacks connect with hostile targets. Update: Sword Summoner unavailable while IDEA Engine is linked. Sword Summoner EX available. Applies kinetic force at a 90 degree angle upward relative to the angle of impact. Simulations indicate increased viability of aerial combos and anti-air applications. Exige Needle available. Launches a summoned sword downward at a negative 30 degree angle from midair after leaping backwards. Use to increase distance from target. All other Ars online and functional; discrepancies in optimal usage may exist. Recommend further experimentation at earliest opportunity._

So this would be like learning to fight all over again? Lambda's existing battle protocols were optimized for the old version. She archived them in case she ever lost the IDEA Engine, and got down to "further experimentation" with Sickle Storm against Luxord. The spinning saw appeared a short distance away, spinning in place. After a second, it zipped toward Luxord, who caught it on a giant card he placed in front of himself like a wall. The saw ground against the impossibly durable sheet of cardboard for a second before disappearing.

As Luxord dropped his guard to be able to see Lambda's next move, he realized it was already coming at him. As Lambda expected, but coming as a complete surprise to Luxord, the green sword that stabbed the Nobody head-on knocked him into the air, leaving a single stab wound that didn't drag downward as he was lifted up. The next sword lifted him higher and dragged him slightly towards Lambda, who jumped into the air and levitated there as she sent in more swords to pierce Luxord form all sides. Finally, she knocked him to the ground with Crescent Saber, which she noted traveled through a wider arc than before. _IDEA Engine overall synchronization: 40% Damage output increased by a factor of 1.2._ Each sword would deal more damage than the last and less than the next.

Luxord certainly noticed that much as he was slammed into the well-trimmed grass, leaving a trail of mud as he skidded a few feet back. He staggered to his feet. "Impressive! You play the game well. I'm not going all in on odds this long. I look forward to our next encounter...Lambda." He formed a Dark Corridor behind himself, and walked backwards into it with a dramatic spreading of his arms as he flipped his deck back together. As his presence vanished from Wonderland, so did the field that kept time frozen in the area.

"You there! Suspicious person!" An authoritative voice called from an adjoining section of the garden. Another card came through, though this one had a head, limbs, and a heart-tipped spear. This particular 5 of hearts card wasn't one of Luxord's. "Did you inflict that unsightly damage on the grass?"

"Uh...I guess smacking Luxord down onto it counts as me doing it," Lambda offered. "Is that illegal here? I didn't know."

"Hm...I actually don't remember any laws about that, but if the Queen of Hearts heard about this, heads would no doubt roll anyway. Help me spread this over the mud! Quickly, before she sees it!" Suddenly the card was cradling a carpet made of well-trimmed grass under the stick-thin arm not gripping his spear.

"Sure. I'm not sticking around long, but I'd hate to cause any heads to roll over this." Lambda grabbed one end of the carpet, and together they laid the new patch of grass over the mud. Lambda cut up the corners of the patch to make the carpet fit seamlessly.

"Thank you, stranger! You probably just saved my life!"

"But it was my fault the damage happened in the first place!"

"Only if _she_ saw it. But if I laid out the carpet as it was, she would notice anyway, and then she'd be doubly angry. You'd better be on your way; I hear this is an open trial day."

"Trial?"

"You probably want to know, but you'd be better off not looking," A voice called from the corner of the room. No one could be seen or sensed there, however.

"Who's there?!" Lambda called.

The card soldier sighed in relief. "Perfect timing, as usual! The Cheshire Cat can answer any questions you have, if he feels like it. I've got to get back to my patrol, or it's off with my head next!" The card scurried off to another section of the garden.

"He doesn't seem to like his job much..."

"Of course not! One stumble and his head will tumble!" The voice again! This time, the owner was clear...sort of. The purple, widely-grinning cat under one of the arches had most of his body visible, but every other stripe on his entire body was missing. "It's a scary, dangerous, and dirty job, but someone has to do it. We can't have the Queen not have her way!"

"Why, though? She doesn't sound like a very good Queen."

The Cheshire Cat grinned even wider, though such a thing seemed impossible. "Of course she isn't! any sane person could see that! Lucky for her, we're all mad here."

Lambda nodded. "That much, I noticed. So, if you have all the answers, can you tell me which world I should go to next?"

"I can." No further answers were forthcoming.

Lambda tried again. " _Will_ you tell me?"

"I will." The Cat fell silent again, grinning his infuriating grin. 

"Ugh. Fine, we'll do this your way. Which world should I visit next?"

"That would depend on your choices. What you choose is always the most important thing. Two worlds have answers to your other questions, the ones you haven't asked me. Different answers reside in different places, of course. Will you choose the town of endless sunset and brain freeze, or the castle of old secrets and rusty pipes? If it were me, I'd stick with the train-ride tickets behind Door Number One."

"Twilight Town, then. Thanks."

"Oh, no need for that. Go on, then! Off into the Darkness! 'Twas brillig, and the slithy toves..." As he began reciting some nonsensical poem, the Cheshire Cat faded away one paw at a time, and then his stripes disappeared in a spiraling motion until only the grin remained. The grin also vanished from sight as Lambda formed a Dark Corridor to Twilight Town.

 **VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

 _In Relius' underground lab beneath the 1st Hierarchical City of Ookoto..._

"Fascinating... If the Time Break need not be accessed from the Realm of Darkness, then it stands to reason that our end of the rift could form on this side of the Cauldron as well... Yes, a brilliant success!" Relius crowed as he Observed the jagged edges of the rip in reality known as the Time Break. When he pulled Terumi back from the Heart Timeline, he'd come out of the Cauldron, but not out of the Boundary. An entirely new Time Break had formed right where the Cauldron marked the border between the Boundary and the lab. It probably only appeared there because that was where Relius expected Terumi to appear. And even as he watched, the distortion expanded, its asymmetrical edges widening to encompass the whole rim of the Cauldron, and then beyond. "Simply fascinating! The plan may need to be revised to take this new data into account. If the Time Break continues to spread, inevitably this world and that one will create a Collision Zone. We could do away with this insane world, and whatever other worlds exist on the other side, comfortably ahead of schedule!" It was the part after that destruction that Relius was concerned with. The void such an event would create... It would be a perfect foundation upon which a master Architect could work his craft! "First, some controlled testing, to determine how much more quickly the Time Break spreads in various circumstances..." So many lovely experiments, none of which had been done before!

Relius Clover believed himself to be above the petty aspirations toward the ascendant bliss of "Heaven" held by the human masses. After all, here Colonel Clover was, putting work in to achieve that ideal world, and what were the masses working toward? Of course, that was a trick question as well as a rhetorical one. Their work would become entirely pointless soon, no matter what they were doing. Izanami would see to that, one way or another. In deference to their pact, Relius decided to contact the Imperator and inform her of this new variable. He doubted She could see the possibilities here-Hades: Izanami had never had an original thought before, and would never decide to change tactics based on the power of a superior argument or the acquisition of new facts.

That was why he would work covertly after giving her the information necessary to reject his proposal. Relius had many extra tricks under his cape that would let him run this operation behind the curtain, a curtain that was itself hidden by the curtain of the NOL's puppet organization. He called the Phantom to his side. "Phantom. Send a message to the Imperator: A new avenue has revealed itself that may accelerate the coming of Doomsday."

 **VVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

 _In a makeshift lab beneath the Akitsu NOL branch office..._

Kokonoe gaped at the readouts on her screen. First the Imperator shows up out of nowhere, then Takamagahara got its brains broken, then there was that business with Ragna's arm (although _that_ had provided some lovely data), and now this? What the hell was Relius _doing_ in Ookoto? This wasn't part of her projections of the enemy's next move, and with Relius involved, it had to be something bad. Except... she had seen these readings before, when salvaging Nu-13's soul. Kokonoe had thought they were the typical random weirdness one had to deal with when working in the Boundary, but no. This was a very unique, specific weirdness, one Kokonoe could potentially exploit. For one thing, two-way tunnels between any two points on the two timelines was an excellent alternative to teleportation. Temporal distortion would make it something less than instant or predictable, but that made it perfect for laying a trap wherever she wanted!

"Time to roll up my sleeves and get cracking! Tager! Bring me another silver vine pop!"

"*Krzzt* ...Yes, Kokonoe. TR-0009 Tager, commencing mission."

"You know, you don't have to say that every time you bring me a lollipop. It's not some epic mission."

"...I was trying to convince myself that it was." Tager lumbered into the room with the requested candy.

Kokonoe grabbed it and stuck it in her mouth with a minimum of wasted movement."Okay, wait right there. I've stumbled on the discovery of several lifetimes, and you get to test the new Time Breaker feature I'm installing in your Artificial Causality Weapon."

"...When will you install that?" Tager asked guardedly.

"And... Click!" Tager spontaneously shut down. "This is my favorite part of the day..."

 **VVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

 _A/N: As you probably guessed, what Lambda will find in Twilight Town is another encounter with Xion, who's still stuck on the Veil Lizard assignment and heading up a creek without a Keyblade. That's where Tager's headed, as well; like attracts like, where the IDEA Engine is concerned. As for Riku, he'll be stuck where he is for at least one more chapter. Merlin can point him in the right direction after he's done trudging up those stairs._


	7. Maybe I Should Fade

**Silver Linings**

 **Chapter 7: Maybe I Should Fade...**

 _A/N: Thank you to all my reviewers, with whom I've been holding conversations over PMs and sketching out the plot of this chapter! Here, Xion will make her decision to leave the Organization and cease to exist for Sora's sake._

 _What, you gasp? That's way too soon? Well, Namine could have had Sora up and about in less than a week if Xion and Roxas hadn't been there. They don't have a year to angst over it anymore, either, because Relius is already working to smash the two timelines together in typical crossover-story fashion. I'll be working on the explanation for why it would be a very bad idea to do that, and technically I've been dropping hints ever since Dark Clouds. So Xion has her work cut out for her dragging Roxas back to Sora with her. There are other important players interested in this exchange too, so without further ado, let's get started with Chapter 7!_

 _But first, some clarification: In Blazblue: Continuum Shift, and I think also in Chronophantasma, Tager's storyline was always told from a first-person perspective, using "I" and "me" instead of "Tager." I'll be doing the same in this chapter. Just a heads-up. If someone doesn't like switching POVs, tell me in a review. I'll fix it, upload the fix, and never do it again._

 **VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

 _Next to Sora's Pod..._

"His progress has gone _down!_ What's going on?" DiZ raged.

Namine shuddered, but held firm. "Xion is taking more of his memories. It's not passive, like I first thought. It would speed up his recovery if she gathered them all up and gave them back voluntarily, though," she added, tweaking DiZ's desire to spin a giant scheme out of all this. Two could play at that game, as much as Namine hated to admit her own skill at it.

"Hmm... That appeals. See that she does." DiZ turned to leave.

"You want me to go to her myself?" How typical of him, to sit at his computer and watch others do his work.

"Of course. You said yourself that it is the most expedient solution, yes? She has been here in Twilight Town for two days now, according to my surveillance devices. Additionally, she cannot summon the Keyblade she used against Riku, whatever the reason may be. Go now, and catch her at her most vulnerable." DiZ created a Dark Corridor, but Namine had already left through her own.

 **VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

 _With Lambda..._

Lambda reappeared in front of a tall tower, which by all rights should have toppled over ages ago, having been constructed with smaller towers bending out of its crooked sides. "This doesn't look quite like Twilight Town..." still, Lambda was looking for answers, and the tower was a good place to start.

The simple, wooden door was unlocked, and let Lambda in easily. She began climbing the spiral staircase inside. After a few steps, she realized that she had somehow begun climbing a straight staircase instead, which floated in midair without support as it rose through a massive indoor space. Clouds of magic in strange colors obscured both the ceiling above and the floor below, and Lambda used the Magic Exception Rule to ignore these developments and walk through the door at the top that should have led nowhere, but instead led to another section of stairs.

By the time she reached the third section, having fought through a few random Shadow and Soldier Heartless, Lambda had grown quite sick of stairs. Luckily, the next aimless door led to the top of the tower.

This room had a few bookshelves around the edges, and a large door to some kind of side room, but what dominated the space was the large wooden desk and high-backed chair in the middle, where an old man sat stroking his long, gray beard. "Welcome, visitor from another time. I have been expecting you." He spoke slowly, planning and deliberately pronouncing every syllable.

This man's pointy, star-spangled hat and long, blue robe advertised his position as a powerful sorceror. Lambda could have started with any number of questions, but for some reason, she led with, "How did you get your beard to grow in two separate bunches like that?"

The old man chuckled. "Of all the myriad questions that are appropriate to ask an old sorceror at the first meeting between us, you chose such a trivial matter? I merely spend a long time grooming my beard each morning. It is a point of pride for me. But enough of this. I am Yen Sid, a sorceror by trade and Keyblade Master in retirement. You surely wish to locate Riku, correct?"

"If you can find him, then yes. He's probably really worried about me." Lambda's mind glossed over Yen Sid's claim to be a retired Keyblade Master for now. Riku was more important.

"As you are for him, it would seem. Fear not; finding him will be easy. Give me a moment..." Yen Sid waved his hands over an empty section of his desk, and clouds of magic and sparkles began to swirl beneath his palms. In the center of the magical whirlpool, an image of the town of Hollow Bastion appeared, then zoomed in on a house Lambda recognized.

"Merlin's place? How did he get there?"

"By fate, no doubt. The stars have ways of making situations like these work out in the end. I can easily contact Merlin on this matter." The scrying spell disappeared, and Yen Sid levitated his chair to spin around until he faced away from Lambda. The Prime Field Device moved around the table to see what he was doing. The sorceror raised a gnarled hand to gesture for silence as he focused his stare on a glowing pink gemstone embedded in the far wall, between two star-shaped windows. "...What could he be working on this time? ...Pick up..." Yen Sid mumbled along these lines for about fifteen seconds until the crystal began to shine brighter. "Merlin. Send Riku to Twilight Town as soon as you can. His friend is here with me, worrying for his safety... She went _what_ on him? ...May the stars have mercy on him... They want to install _what_ in your house? ...No wonder you waited so long to answer... An admirable cause, to be sure... Agreed. I will send her to Twilight Town on the usual train... Just do it before you are distracted again. The _last_ time you attempted to... Truly? ...That is very impressive... Farewell, colleague."

"What did he say?" Lambda asked. "I only caught half of that, and I understood even less." What she did understand mostly just made her more curious.

"...Most of it was of no importance." Yen Sid's expression spoke otherwise (was that fear?), but Lambda didn't press him. It must have been embarrassing for the two of them, and embarrassments could become far greater and more dangerous with powerful magic involved. "I will send you back to my front door. From there, take the train at the edge of this floating island. It will let you board without a fee, and take you to the main station in Twilight Town. Riku will meet you there."

"Does that mean we're not in Twilight Town right now?"

"This is a tiny, secluded world on which I built the Mysterious Tower. It was the perfect location to live out my retirement in solitude, though I believe I will receive further visitors soon enough."

"Speaking of retirement, is it even possible to retire from being a Keyblade Master?"

"I have made it the final goal of my long life to learn the answer to that very question. The worlds certainly seem to be conspiring against such a thing," Yen Sid chuckled, though his expression was exasperated, "but I will remain here in my tower until my star blinks out."

"I guess I'll leave you to it, then, sir. Thanks for all your help!" Lambda was teleported to the base of the tower, and a flash of light at the edge of the island heralded the summoning of her ride. The train was a single car, decorated all over with golden stars and moons on a purple background. The door hissed open to reveal an entirely empty vehicle; the train had to be either automated or sentient, but it didn't matter to Lambda which one. She climbed aboard, and the train accelerated through a tunnel of green space and aurora lights. She arrived at the familiar Station Plaza in a matter of minutes.

"I could wait here for Riku, but as long as we're in the same world, we'll find each other eventually..." Lambda decided to look around town again.

 **VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

 _In the Tunnels..._

"So what's this is all about...what did the Organization want me for?" Xion had come here at the request of the girl in white, Namine. She claimed to have answers, and a way to help, and Xion had been desperate to be useful again, instead of powerless.

"Not the Organization. Xemnas wanted you to be his perfectly obedient Keyblade wielder. Most of the Organization is as fooled as you were, since Xemnas never intended to help them regain their hearts."

"Oh, no... Is that why half of us were sent to Castle Oblivion? To eliminate them, now that Xemnas is done using them to...create me?"

"That must have been part of his reasoning, yes, but not all of it. I was there, so I know that Marluxia was actually planning to betray the Organization with Larxene. I was the cornerstone of their plan, in fact."

"But...how could you pose a threat to Xemnas? No offense, but you don't look like someone who can stand up to Organization XIII..."

"None taken; I was just a means to an end, for Marluxia...I was a way to control Sora, the same as you are." Namine's smile was bitter; the memory was more painful than she let on.

"Sora...?" The name resonated with Xion at the deepest level she could imagine. But who was this person?

"You know him, of course. You must have seen him in your dreams."

Xion remembered with a gasp. "So he's the boy in red...? I have seen him. I have such vivid dreams of him, so often, that sometimes the dreams feel more real than my own memories. But who is he? Why is he so important?"

"He wields the Keyblade to protect the worlds from Darkness and other dangers, but for now, he's sleeping. And as long as you exist, he will never wake up."

"But why me?"

"You should know the truth, before anything else happens. You're a Replica of him. Vexen made a device called the Replica Program, and with it he made three Replicas of important people: You were the Replica of Sora, and there were two weaker Replicas of Riku and his friend-the ones you know as 'the impostors.' You were special among them, created to catch Sora's memories after I was forced to scatter them away, so I wouldn't be able to put them back in their place. You also took some power from Roxas." Namine took a breath, to recover from the long explanation and give herself time to prepare for Xion's final reaction.

"Roxas? How does he fit into this?"

"He's Sora's Nobody, although Sora isn't a Heartless anymore. His name is an anagram of Sora's with an X added to it, the same as all the Organization's members. That's why Roxas can use the Keyblade, and why you can, too."

"But...I can't wield the Keyblade anymore." Xion's tone carried an air of _thanks for the reminder._

"Only because you doubt yourself. You still have the power you caught from Sora and Roxas, and you're getting more from them even now. Roxas should have had two Keyblades, which is positively unheard of."

"Then...I'm holding him back. I'm keeping Sora asleep, I stole Roxas' second Keyblade. But I don't know how to give those things back."

"I'm sorry, Xion. You deserve better than what you got. But I called you here to help you give that power back. I need to wake Sora up-I made him a promise, after all. To do that, I'll need your help, and Roxas' help, too. I'm sorry for manipulating you."

"It's fine." Xion wasn't any happier with being manipulated than Namine had been, but she had to consider Roxas, too, as well as the rest of the Organization. Xemnas had to be stopped, and if Sora could do it, Xion had to help him. And if she and Roxas returned to Sora, they could be friends inside him, right? "How can I help?"

"I'll send the rest of Sora's memories into you. Sora will wake up faster if you have them already organized, and it will give you the power to face Roxas, if he doesn't want to come back with you."

"Roxas..." Xion whispered to herself. He was the first person to encourage her, and the first to see her as a person, not a puppet. A foolish ideal, maybe, but it was nice while it lasted...

"Can you bring yourself to fight him, if it comes to that?"

"I...don't know yet. He asked to be my friend... What would happen if he beat me?"

"Well, if you won, you'd be able to absorb him and return his portion of Sora's memories with the rest. If he won, you'd return to Sora anyway, and Roxas is destined to follow. So it would just take longer if you lost. The fastest way would be if he went willingly, but..."

"Then I only lose if I don't try. I have to try, at least. I want to act of my own will, even if I'm just helping your plan. I know Sora is a good person, and the worlds need him...more than they need me." It was awful, it was still _wrong_ , but it was less wrong than everything Xion had done until now.

"Thank you, Xion. Thank you so much..." Namine looked ready to cry in relief. "We can finally save him..."

Xion grasped the blonde girl's shoulder, her eyes shining with new determination. "When can we start?"

"Right now. Roxas is here. I'll give you the memories I've gathered before you go...but this will hurt. A lot. Are you ready?" Namine closed her eyes and focused. 

"I'll never be more ready than I am right now..." Then the memories began to flow in. They pounded into Xion's mind, crushed her chest, and threatened to sweep her away in a sea of experiences far deeper than Xion would ever have. The Destiny Islands... Building the raft... Sparring with Riku... "The score was 0 to 25" ...A necklace of thalassa shells... "It's my lucky charm! Be sure to bring it back to me!" ...Kairi.

When Xion straightened up, her face was completely different, though her voice was the same. "I think I'm ready...so this puppet will have to play her part." She put on her hood, and set off to find Roxas.

 **VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

 _With Riku..._

"Thanks for picking me up, Merlin." The wizard had appeared in front of Riku fifteen steps up, and with barely a word from either, Riku found himself at Merlin's house. Which meant he'd gotten a free pass on climbing those accursed stairs!

"I sensed your anguish, crying out at an unfair and uncaring universe! In my opinion, your reaction was only slightly exaggerated. We wise elders hate stairs even more than you do! I'll never understand why Master Yen Sid put so many blasted stairs in his tower..."

Riku decided not to comment on what Merlin probably meant by "wise elders." There was no telling what might anger a powerful wizard...

"Hey, Merlin!" An _extremely_ chipper and upbeat female voice called over the door to the outside suddenly banging open. "I just joined the Hollow Bastion Restoration Committee!"

"That's wonderful, Yuffie my dear..." Merlin sighed. "But as you can see, I'm already busy with this visitor-"

Yuffie interrupted the wizard by squealing. "RIKU! You're here! Where did you run off to?"

Riku started automatically looking for places to hide. He recognized this pattern. "It's a long story..." Light help him, hadn't he had enough fangirls on the Destiny Islands?! Selphie was far from the worst case he'd seen at their school. And now that Riku actually had a girlfriend, he was even more obligated to shut down the squealing. "I'll tell you about it later, but right now I need to ask Merlin if he's seen my girlfriend, Lambda."

"...Oh." Yuffie deflated. "You got over Kairi, then?"

"Don't even start about that. Sora and Kairi are meant to be; I was an idiot for not noticing sooner. Lambda's a better match for me, anyway."

"But who _is_ Lambda?"

"I met her in the Realm of Darkness, and she helped me get back out. She helped me fight Ansem, and we eventually beat him so he can't possess me again."

"Wow, she must be really strong. Nowhere near as strong as the Great Ninja Yuffie, but okay in a pinch."

Riku scoffed. "No, she's definitely stronger. I'm practically shocked you haven't asked me about _this_ yet." Riku tapped his blindfold.

"Oh gosh, how _did_ I miss that? I need to work on my epic ninja skills of observation."

"Tell me about it. Normally all the girls like you would be all, 'I could drown in your eyes forever,' or something along those lines. You know even less about me than the other fangirls."

" _FANGIRLS?_ " Yuffie was suddenly outraged. "I'll have you know that _my_ love is true, pure as untouched snow, and-"

"Fifty-seven."

"...What?"

"That's how many times I've heard some variation of what you just said, after one of my fangirls learns about the others. I started keeping track in fifth grade. And really, we just met today. 'True, pure love' is kind of a far-fetched idea."

"...Well, shoot. When am I going to find a nice guy for myself, then...?" Yuffie grumbled. (The townspeople were mostly aware that Yuffie was on a perpetual hunt for "Mr. Right." Riku wasn't the only one she'd latched onto like this.)

"Sorry, I'm no expert on destiny. Speaking of experts, though, Merlin? Do you know where Lambda is?"

"I do not, but I'm sure I could find-"

"Oh, that's right!" Yuffie was suddenly back to being chipper, completely unfazed by the rejection she'd suffered fifteen seconds ago. "I came in here in the first place to tell Merlin we're setting up the computer in here!"

"Don't you mean, 'ask Merlin if we can set up the computer in here'?" Merlin asked, irked at the interruption and worried he already knew the answer.

"Nope! We kinda had the meeting this morning. It's already settled. The new HQ of the Hollow Bastion Restoration Committee will be right here!"

Merlin's eye twitched. "If they try to invade my home, I'm going to personally-"

"What's that thing?" Riku suddenly asked. There was a pink crystal floating in the corner of the room. "I think it's been floating there for a while, but it wasn't there when I got here."

"Blasts and curses! My vengeance will have to wait; that's Yen Sid calling me. Could you wait right there for a moment, Riku? I have to take this." Riku nodded silently, listening in as Merlin mumbled at the crystal. "Hello, Master Yen Sid. I'm sorry you had to wait. Yuffie barged in here and went full fangirl on him... You heard me right... He's standing here right now... That part's taken care of, but now the Committee wants to put their HQ and some kind of computer in my house! ...One of Cid's projects, I believe. They want to rebuild the town, but why did they need to do it from _my_ house? I'll send Riku over there; I was always better at advanced teleportation than you, after all, but I might need a minute to sort out my other uninvited guests... Hey, I used that kind of explosion to destroy a whole platoon during the invasion! Granted, it was our platoon, not the Heartless, but I could do it again on purpose if I had to! Yes, stroke my feathers. I'll spare you for now... Farewell, colleague." The crystal faded away.

"Okay, now I'm curious..." Riku started.

"Don't be. Anyway, I imagine Yen Sid will explain more things to Lambda for at least another minute, then she'll be in transit to Twilight Town for five minutes on his personal train. Let me check something..." Merlin pulled out a familiar gold pocketwatch from the Bag of Holding, the magical satchel that he was never seen without which contained all his worldly possessions in one pocket. "Hmm...Yes, that gives me enough time to teleport you there and have you arrive just in time for whatever grand moment approaches! But wait, I never expected you two to end up separated in the first place. Here, I'll give you your own World Clock!" Merlin handed Riku the timepiece he just checked. "Like I told Lambda, I have spares. You might arrive a bit late, now. Seek Lambda out immediately!" Merlin waved his hands around, and the last thing Riku saw of that world was a cloud of magic sparkles.

 **VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

 _In Kokonoe's secret lab..._

"And that should do it! Okay, Tager, boot up." Kokonoe finished welding a panel back into place on Tager's left arm, put away all the tools she'd used, moved him right back to where he was when he shut down, and allowed the Red Devil to awaken.

 **VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

 _Iron Tager's point of view..._

"What happened? My internal clock says I'm missing ten minutes of memory files." I rubbed my hair as the boot-up process completed. "You were saying something about an upgrade, right? Don't tell me..."

"Yep, already taken care of. At least you know when it happened this time. Now I have to run the first field test of the Time Breaker! And... CLICK!" Kokonoe slammed a big red button on her computer console, and my arms suddenly began to vibrate.

"What on Earth is..." A blast of electricity arced from both of my gauntlets, meeting at the midpoint between them and releasing brilliant sparks. I attempted to pry my arms apart, which was fortunately what I was supposed to do. The motion caused the electricity to rip open a jagged hole in the air. When my arms were extended fully to my sides, the electricity cut off, but the hole remained. "Kokonoe, what am I looking at right now?"

"Ha ha ha ha ha!" Kokonoe took a second to do her patented Mad Scientist Cackle before responding. "This, Tager, is what success looks like! You just ripped a stable hole in the continuum, and on the other side is a completely different timeline! I snooped on Relius when he did this himself; he calls this hole a Time Break. Judging by what we can see through it, you should be able to just walk through and end up in the other continuum! Relius is planning something with these Time Breaks, but I'll beat him at his own game!"

"So, judging by how my luck has held so far, your next orders for me will be to investigate the place we can see through the Time Break..."

"Good, it looks like you're finally using that RAM upgrade! Yep, go on through. The first thing to test will be communications. It should work fine, but just in case, come right back if you can't reach me by radio."

"When did you give me a RAM upgrade...? No matter. TR-0009 Tager, commencing mission." I stomped through the Time Break with a little more force than technically necessary, ending up right in the middle of a city at sunset. What time was it outside Kokonoe's lab? Why would my clock say _Data unavailable?_ "This place is strange...but down to business. This is Tager. Kokonoe, come in."

My radio crackled like usual. "I read you, Tager. You've got better reception than usual, actually. Anything immediately jumping out at your sensors?"

Actually, yes. "It's odd... I'm not getting any readings of seithr at all. That's no problem for me, of course-that's why you use science in the first place, right? It is still strange, though."

"That's one reason, yes. One day, I want to clean the world of all the raw seithr the Black Beast left behind. When I do, every form of Ars Magus will stop working, and the society that currently depends on it will fall apart. It'll serve them right for relying on the _Black Beast's_ power over something that can be understood and controlled." Kokonoe was ranting now; I noticed she used the terms "when" and "will," implying that her success was only a matter of time. But then, that's how Kokonoe always was. The world needs driven people like her. I internally scoffed at the memories of Hakumen repeatedly asking why I follow her so loyally, as though he had a better plan. But Kokonoe was done ranting by now. "Wait just a minute! What are these readings...are these sensors broken?!"

"What did you find, Kokonoe?"

"Lambda...I found Lambda! She's very close to your position, within 100 meters. And she has the IDEA Engine! I _know_ she gave it to Ragna already, and he still has it! How is she even alive? Tager, I need you to confirm these readings. Follow the indicator I'm putting in your HUD." A green arrow popped up at the top of my field of vision.

The arrow pointed behind me, so I turned around. The entire world seemed surreal as I saw my target walking barefoot down the ramp from a more elevated section of the town. I realized I had never seen her unarmored before, and her red eyes had certainly never displayed this level of curiosity and tension before. Or any emotions, really. What was going on? "Kokonoe, come in. I've already found the target. It looks like your readings weren't wrong after all."

"It's still hard to believe, but I guess the sensors were right. What are you waiting for, Tager? Make contact with Lambda! From what I'm seeing, it should be possible to do this without fighting her, so hold off on the fisticuffs unless she summons a weapon. I'd really rather not have to break her again."

"Ah, so that's why you're so invested in this..." I lumbered towards the Prime Field Device.

"What are you implying, Tager?" Kokonoe's voice in my radio got very quiet, with an undercurrent of danger that would send most grown men scrambling away. I said nothing; The Professor was easy enough to read, after a time. This was her own way of backtracking from an emotional attachment.

"Please hold, Kokonoe. I've made contact with the target." I finally reached Lambda, who had to crane her neck up 80 degrees to make eye contact with my opaque glasses.

"Who are you, and why did you just refer to me as the target?"

Time to try and head off a confrontation. "I am Iron Tager. At the moment, I mean you no harm. Kokonoe gave me specific orders to contact you in a non-violent manner unless absolutely necessary."

"Kokonoe? That name came up in the dream I had, right before the IDEA Engine was copied to me. Other than that, I have no clue who you're talking about. You must have come here from the Azure Timeline, right? I'm not going back.

"So you do have the IDEA Engine, then? Kokonoe, what do you make of it?"

"Let me take the conversation from here, Tager." Kokonoe connected to both of us over her mental radio. "So you're Lambda, huh? I'm Kokonoe. Are your memories fried? You should probably remember who I am."

"My current theory is that time looped around between when I fell through the rift and when you repaired me, so you know a different 'Lambda,' the one from the last loop. I still have no clue how her death copied the IDEA Engine to me. It's your work, right?"

"Ah, that explains it. Apparently, I misinterpreted the data. Yes, the IDEA Engine is my invention. My masterpiece, actually." 

"It's well made," Lambda complimented. "For me, it takes time to synchronize in combat, but it works wonders for the effectiveness of Murakumo."

"Ah, so you still have the Nox Nyctores from your timeline! I designed the IDEA Engine to replace that thing, but it works as an amplifier! I'm a genius! But... how are you getting the Nox to run over there with no seithr? It should be downright impossible."

"There's a different power source here called the Power of Darkness. It could be even more dangerous than seithr, since I've heard it destroys worlds. It's... I guess a good word would be transphysical. Darkness is a substance, like seithr, that removes some energy from everything around it. But it's also formed from negative thoughts and emotions, and embodies the power to control and destroy. I can use the Nox outside the Realm of Darkness because my own heart has the Darkness it uses."

"That's a lot of highly useful information. Thanks, Lambda. I won't ask you to come back to this timeline-did you call it the 'Azure Timeline?' But could you keep in touch? I need informants on both sides of the Time Break."

"The 'Azure Timeline' is what this clock I got from Merlin called your world. I don't like to think of it as my world. The clock is enchanted-there are more mages in this timeline than there ever were over there." Lambda pulled out what looked like an ordinary pocketwatch, stored in a pocket of the black coat she wore. _World Clock_ was printed on the cover. "So that rift between us is called the Time Break? I guess I could help. I've got your frequency stored, after all, so calling back won't be a problem. What are you trying to do?"

"Aside from killing Terumi, saving the world, and doing science? Not much. I know this one bastard, Relius Clover, is trying to mess with that timeline, too, whatever you call it. I'm sure you know Relius, at least."

"The World Clock calls this the _Heart Timeline_. Yes, I know Relius. His stupid protocols still dictate what I say and do at times. If you're trying to stop him, then sure, I'll help. I've got to meet up with Riku first, though. I bet you didn't think it was possible for a Prime Field Device to catch a boyfriend."

"You caught _what?_ And this person isn't Ragna? I'd ask for all the juicy details, but we're on a schedule. Call back if you think I need to know something. Use your judgment, since you have it. Huh? Oh, crap!"

I chose now to jump into the conversation. "What's the problem, Kokonoe?"

"The Time Break is expanding! It's slow, but it must have started growing the instant you passed through! Dammit... Hey, all personnel! The lab is compromised! Initiate Evacuation Protocol T-9! If you don't know what that is, just run! Your lives are more important than any data you can't save! No, don't stand there asking questions! You have two hours to get out! No, I can't stop the problem by then! GO!"

Evacuation Protocol T-9? Overloading the teleportation devices to get everyone out? Not taking the time to set the coordinates would send everything to different places, which could be disastrous. "Kokonoe, should I return through the same Time Break?"

"Yes, but doing so might speed up its expansion even more. I don't want to know what happens if this thing gets too big or intersects a second rip, but we don't have much choice right now. Once you cross back, I'll teleport you to my backup lab. Get moving; your Time Breaker might be able to fix this."

"Roger. TR-0009 Tager, returning to base." I made my way towards the Time Break (which was much larger than before on this side, too) as quickly as my legs could go.

 **VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

 _With Roxas and Axel: Twilight Town: Station Heights..._

"So our mission today is to track down Xion?" Roxas looked up at Axel as they exited the Dark Corridor.

"Yep. She never RTC'd from her mission three days ago. Sai'x says she never finished it either-something about a giant Heartless. At least we know she never left this world." Axel ran over the mission brief.

"Maybe we should ask the townspeople if they've seen her."

"Her? Xion's a girl?"

"Yeah, and she has a Keyblade like me! You didn't know?"

"She never dropped her hood around me. Now I've got two half-pint zombies to babysit..." 

"Hey! At least with two half-pints, you get a whole!"

"Ha ha! A whole zombie, that is!" Axel chuckled. "Seriously, though, you've gotten a lot better about the zombie thing since we first met. You're doing good, Roxas. Got it memorized?"

"Really? Yeah, I got it memorized. Let's track down Xion and have ice cream together!"

"You don't need to... I'm right here." Number XIV walked out of a side alley with her hood up.

"Xion! We were just about to search for you! Sai'x assigned the mission, so even he wants you back!" Roxas ran over to his second friend, but stopped short when she put a hand in front of her.

"He wants me back, all right. But not because of me. And without my Keyblade, he won't want me back at all."

"Xion... What? You can't use the Keyblade anymore?" Roxas took another step forward as Axel watched with interest.

"It stopped coming to me when I fought the impostors. But that's okay; they showed me what's really important." Xion stepped back a pace, and removed her hood.

Roxas stopped dead. "You...your face... That's..."

Axel recognized it, too. "Him? That's their plan? Geez, I always get stuck with the icky jobs."

"Look at my face, Roxas. Who do you see?" Xion's voice remained unchanged, even as it came from the mouth of that boy Roxas saw at the end of his coma. "If you see someone else's face...a boy's face...then that means I'm almost ready. I'm a puppet meant to look like him...and this puppet will have to play her part. Roxas... This is him. It's Sora." Xion gave Roxas a sad smile that looked entirely out of place on the face she wore. That face should be wearing a goofy grin of humor and inner Light, but she looked as though such goodness was unreachable.

"No! Xion, what are you talking about? Come back with us!"

"No, Roxas. I have to make you a part of me, too, and bring you back to him. Don't you see? This is why I was created!" Xion put her hood back on, and Darkness began to swoop towards her from all around the area. When the cloud of black lifted, Xion looked entirely different, like a cross between "Sora" and a simple Nobody like a Dusk. She spoke with a distorted version of her own voice, despite no longer having a face. "Namine poured all the memories into me. Eventually, I would have gotten them from you, but now I feel about to overflow. Before I drown, I'll bring you back to him, and the worlds can be saved!" Darkness flowed over the street, swallowing Xion, Roxas, Axel, and one more person, who was merely in the wrong place at the wrong time...

 **VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

 _A/N: Super finishing move: Cliffhanger Crush! Don't worry, I have the next parts, the ones with the epic final battles, mapped out already. Since that would leave us with only eight chapters, I'll continue into Kingdom Hearts 2 after that._


	8. Stop Holding Back!

**Silver Linings**

 **Chapter 8: Stop Holding Back!**

 _A/N: Sorry for ending the last chapter right before a massive boss fight. I'll try to make it up to you by releasing this as soon as possible. If you skipped right to the last chapter and haven't read Chapter 7 by now, please page back._

 **VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

 _Roxas' final mission..._

When Roxas could see again, he was in a world he hadn't yet visited. It looked like a parlor or other room in a house, but everything was huge. All the furniture was so big that Roxas, Axel, and the _thing_ Xion had become all looked like mice. Speaking of Xion, she spun into the air, then spread intricately decorated wings and brandished a large red sword. She spoke in that distorted voice. "Now you'll see! Sonic Blade!" Xion dove straight at Roxas so fast that she looked like a blur. Roxas had already jumped to the left side, and it saved his life.

Axel hopped to the right, and held his left hand over a disk of conjured fire. "Namine... Now I see why they called her a witch. Xion, tell me! What did she _do_ to you?" The flaming disk burst and revealed one of Axel's chakrams, a ring-shaped weapon which spun rapidly until he gripped it.

Xion leveled her sword at her side, concentrating on her next strike at Axel. While Roxas was still dealing with the shock of the whole situation, she answered the question. "She told me everything. The true power of the Keyblade and Kingdom Hearts... Xemnas' ambitions... And also why I exist."

"She's manipulating you! She acts like she's right, but she's pulling your strings like a marionette!" Axel summoned his other chakram.

Xion growled. "What did you call me?" She began to glow, and her sword pulled back slightly.

"It means you're being her puppet, Xion! Got it memorized?" Axel threw a chakram straight at Xion's face, but she made no effort to block. The spikes dug into her featureless mask, then the ring rebounded to Axel's hand, leaving no mark.

Xion then launched her attack, a horizontal swing with such strength behind it that Axel couldn't possibly hope to block. "I am _not_ a puppet! I'm doing this of my own will!"

An attack with such an obvious telegraph couldn't hope to catch Organization XIII's trained assassin. He leaped straight over it and launched a fireball at Xion's back. The flames left a blackened patch, like his enemy was made of fabric, but if Xion felt any pain, she didn't show it. Axel yelled over his shoulder. "Roxas! Help me out here! I'm not doing enough damage on my own!"

"But...I don't want to hurt Xion!" Roxas protested. If Axel had been looking, he would have seen tears fall from the boy's eyes.

Axel blocked Xion's overhead swing with the flat side of his chakram, but she used the rebound to spin into a thrust that went under Axel's guard. "Agh! Neat trick, Xion! Where'd you learn to fight like that? Roxas! Whether you want to hurt her or not, she's trying to destroy you! At times like these, you can either fight back or die!" Axel threw another chakram, which bounced off Xion's torso to no effect.

"But..." Roxas was still indecisive.

 **VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

 _With Lambda..._

Across the room, however, an outsider was just getting her bearings. "Rebooting...loading...loading... Complete. Environment change recognized. Scanning...Current area is...Error. Memory quarantined. Open quarantine Y/N? ...Ugh, N. Why am I back here?" Lambda looked around, noting that she was small here again. The unmistakable sounds of clashing blades and roaring flames reached her from around the central table. "What is...? Better safe than sorry. Summoning Lux Sanctus! IDEA Engine linked! Murakumo, activate!" Now properly armed, Lambda moved around the table. The first thing she saw was the boy from her last day at Beast's Castle. Roxas, she recalled. He was crying as he looked at the battle, which came into view next. A man in a Black Coat with cherry-red hair that instantly screamed "FIRE" at anyone looking was exchanging blows from his chakrams with a strange being. "New targets acquired. Target 1 is a Nobody, likely a member of Organization XIII. Target 2 is...target identified as Xion? What happened to her?!" Lambda turned and got the attention of the only familiar face in the room. "Hey, Roxas! That's Xion, isn't it? What happened just now?"

"Who are you?!" Roxas jumped away from Lambda, and finally summoned his Keyblade.

"I'm the one of the 'impostors' the Organization was looking for, but my real name is Lambda. I got caught in that wave of Darkness, and it looks like I missed something big!"

"I was told to search for Xion after she went missing, but when _she_ found _us,_ she started talking about puppets and memories, and she looked like some guy she called Sora, and then she turned into _that_ and brought us here to try and kill us!"

"Well, that makes no sense whatsoever..." Roxas had to be missing some info on what caused Xion to flip out like this, and his explanation wasn't much help to Lambda.

"But it's happening right now! If you're not here to help, then stay out of our way!" Roxas turned to the fight and ran in.

"Did you finally pull it together, Roxas? See if the Keyblade can hurt her!" The red-haired man yelled as he blocked an overhead swing and dodged the follow-through.

"I'll try, Axel!" Roxas circled behind Xion, only to have the Replica turn to face him instead of Axel. He swung horizontally as Xion swung vertically, and both blows connected. Roxas took a hit to his arm, stumbled and had to jump back to make some room, but at least Xion had received visible damage in the form of a rip in her cloth-like outer layer. Nothing but Darkness was visible inside. "Ow! Xion, why? Cure!" Roxas raised the Keyblade skyward and cast a simple healing spell. The cut on his arm glowed green and sealed up, no longer releasing the characteristic black smoke from a wounded Nobody.

Lambda called, "Roxas, can you keep using that healing spell?"

"I can only cast Cure four more times today! What of it?"

"Save it for life-threatening wounds! You could have taken three more hits like that and continued to fight! Geez, what do they teach you at the Organization?"

"Lexaeus was more of a school of hard knocks, as I recall, and Larxene was totally unqualified to teach anything to anyone, much less teach Roxas magic," Axel piped up. "It hardly matters, since both of them were terminated at C.O.! You're the impostor, anyway! Why would you care?"

"Because Roxas just did the most visible damage yet! You need him alive and effective to win this!"

"And you care about the outcome...because?" Axel jumped back to dodge Xion's combo, which slashed three times at thin air while Roxas was cutting at her back.

"Because I can't leave! The Darkness isn't responding to my attempts to make a Corridor, and I think she's the reason! And also... Xion, I'm sorry!"

Xion suddenly froze mid-swing, and held herself completely motionless. "Sorry for what?"

"I apologize for what I said at Beast's Castle. I went over the line, especially since I'm a lot like you. I'm as fake as a person can get, eleven times removed from both the template I was copied from and just as far from being what my creators wanted. They wanted a sword to kill gods, and I'm not it. But I am _me_ , and you should be, too!"

Xion held still for one more second, then shook her head. "You don't really understand. If I keep being _me_ , Sora loses his chance. Roxas will suffer, and I'll be used against the worlds! I'll show you how hopeless my existence is!" Xion curled into the fetal position and levitated into the air. Lambda summoned a sword to knock her down, canceling the attempt to create a healing barrier.

"I'm sorry for this, too, Xion. It looks like you won't back down, and I need to get out of here or Riku will worry about me. So I've got to beat you as quickly as possible."

Surprisingly, Xion's wings and sword vanished in golden sparkles. Was she done fighting? "Fine by me. Haaah!" No, she wasn't finished yet. Xion spread Darkness from one hand, covering the area again.

 **VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

 _Halloween Town: Oogie's Mansion Ruins..._

The new battleground was a giant stone clearing surrounded by a spiked fence, in...Halloween Town, Lambda's scans revealed. A barrier immediately formed around the perimeter marked by the fence, trapping the fighters inside. Xion was now in the center of the area, fifty meters away, and carried a strange weapon, which looked like a cross between a sword and a pair of jaws. "How's this?" Xion rose into the air, with her jaw-sword wide open in front of her. Orange energy began to gather between its teeth. "Ragnarok!" The orb of energy split into twenty projectiles that spiraled through the air in three groups, with each group homing in on one of Xion's enemies. Lambda responded with a storm of daggers from her Legacy Edge attack, canceling all the projectiles headed her way and knocking Xion out of the air.

"Xion, stop it!" Roxas pointed his Keyblade right at Xion. "All I wanted was for the three of us to eat ice cream at the special spot together! What happened to us being friends?!" A beam of Light lanced from the Keyblade right into Xion as she got to her feet.

Xion screamed as the Light tore a clean, circular hole right through her chest. "I wanted to be friends, but you said we had to ask Axel, remember? I'm not going to grasp at a false friendship that can only end up making you weaker! Even if you end up hating me for it, I'm doing this for more than just me or just you!" Xion's voice was as defiant as it had been the whole time, but her body slumped over, and her jaw-sword disappeared. She recovered swiftly, though, and punched the ground beneath her, sending out yet another wave of Darkness.

 **VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

 _The Cave of Wonders: Lamp Chamber..._

The new area was considerably smaller, with four stone blocks around the perimeter creating higher vantage points. Lambda jumped to the one on her left before taking a good look at Xion's latest form.

Mostly, she still looked like a Sora puppet, and her recent wounds had vanished. However, she now had four arms, each carrying a massive scimitar. The blades glowed as she chased Roxas down with several slashes. "Can you keep up?" Axel tried to get in a few attacks from behind, but then Xion called out, "Ars Arcanum!" She followed the shout by spinning horizontally through the air with blades extended, like a pinwheel of sharp death. Axel was torn up by the attack, and dropped back out of the fight for now. Roxas barely managed to roll clear of Xion's flight path.

Lambda, however, had spent the time locking on, and dropped a Calamity Sword right on Xion's head as she came to a stop. The puppet was forced to her knees. "Target damage: 60%. If you keep this up, you really will die, Xion!"

"You! I won't let an outsider like you ruin this! This is between Roxas and me! AaaaAAAH!" Xion clutched her head as all four scimitars and the two extra arms vanished. Her scream turned from a screech of anger to a howl of pain as she rose into the air. Darkness rushed out of her as the puppet form she'd taken on up to this point was ripped apart.

 **VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

 _In a black space..._

"Did she die?" Lambda wondered, looking around. "Where are we?" They hadn't reappeared in a new battleground this time. The whole place was pitch black.

"Thanks for your help, whoever you are!" Axel called over to Lambda. "If you hadn't been there, she might have killed us instead! Still, where is-"

Roxas interrupted. "Xion!"

"No, I meant to ask about an exit..." Roxas wasn't listening. He was chasing after an image of the black-haired Xion he knew, an image only he could see. He'd almost caught up, and she turned around. He'd see her face in a second... but the Darkness ripped open, dispelling the illusion and revealing that he and the others were standing on thin air, level with the secret spot in Twilight Town. An ironic place to have to battle Xion's completed, enormous puppet form... She wielded two identical swords that were vaguely reminiscent of Keyblades, each one more than three times longer than Roxas was tall. She still had the vague silhouette of Sora, but there was a lot more armor and detail on her now.

"Scanning... Target's damage is at 85%. Target's threat level has increased to SS. Danger. Recommend maximum firepower." Lambda finished scanning and took up a spot at the edge of the invisible barrier on which they stood.

"Why, Xion? Why go this far?" Roxas was crying again.

"Because it has to be done." Xion didn't offer any more explanations as she crossed her swords. Two golden tassels floating around her shoulders began to glow, then thin beams of Light blasted from the ends and etched a cross into the invisible battlefield. An explosion followed, knocking all three combatants into the air.

"Lambda? Lambda!" From below, Lambda heard a voice she'd been missing since the mishap in Beast's Castle. Riku charged up the ramp, blindfold turned up to stare directly at Lambda.

"Riku! Can you help? We're fighting a demigod-level Replica up here!"

"I'll see what I can do!" Riku summoned Soul Eater, and leaped straight up. He crashed through the barrier, leaving a jagged hole of visible energy like broken glass. "What is that?"

"That's Xion, the one we met back at Beast's Castle. She's gone berserk! She thinks if she kills Roxas here, it will help Sora wake up, or something."

"Then which side should I fight for? I want Sora to wake up, too!"

"I...I can't believe I totally forgot about that. I guess we should withdraw for now; like she said, this is between her and Roxas. We shouldn't have interfered." Lambda jumped down through the hole, and Riku followed.

"Thanks a bunch, impostors! Yeah, just leave us to fight a demigod-level Replica all by ourselves!" Axel pushed himself up off the barrier. "You must have a death wish, Xion! Well, come on, then!" The redhead allowed flames to lick around his body, then heaved both of his chakrams at Xion as flaming disks. When they simultaneously collided with the giant, who was far too large and slow to even think about dodging or blocking, a giant explosion blasted her. "And that is how we burn, baby!"

"Is that your best, Axel?" The smoke cleared to reveal that Xion was entirely unharmed. "Stop holding back!" Xion placed her blades together in parallel, and channeled Light into them. Then she launched a pillar of energy skyward. Lambda grabbed Riku and got under the unbroken part of the barrier as pillars of Light lanced down all over the battlefield. Roxas rolled left and right, but found himself drawn into a vortex of wind right where most of the pillars dropped. Axel didn't fare much better, having cleared the vortex trap only to be caught by three pillars in rapid succession.

Roxas pushed himself to his feet. "Okay, Xion. You asked for it. I won't hold back anymore!" He began to glow with a shining aura, and his Keyblade was covered in a giant sheath of Light that effectively doubled its size. He launched forward in a wild string of slashes that ripped Xion's armor asunder. The final blow raised Roxas' own pillars of Light to swirl around him and rush off in all directions, slicing Xion's giant arms clean off. At last, the giant Replica fell out of the air in the spot she'd hovered all this time. There was a sound like a single bell, followed by the barrier cracking beneath them. As the invisible floor shattered, Roxas and Axel fell to the ground, but they landed lightly.

Xion's giant puppet form dissolved into Darkness, leaving behind the familiar black-haired girl... But it seemed she wasn't so familiar anymore. Roxas clutched his head. "Who are you...again? It's weird, I feel like I'm forgetting something really important..."

Xion fell to her knees at Roxas' feet. "You'll be...better off now...Roxas." She slumped over to the side, all her strength gone. Roxas dove to catch her in his arms, dismissing the Keyblade.

"Am I the one who did this to you?"

"What happened to everyone's memory?" Lambda whispered to herself, a safe distance from the tragic parting about to take place. "I know exactly what we did just now, who that is, everything."

"Then who is she?" Riku asked at Lambda's side. "It's all pretty fuzzy to me."

"I think we should just listen for now." Lambda and Riku began to pay attention just as Xion worked up enough strength to answer Roxas.

"No, it was my choice...to go away now. I belong with Sora. And now, I'm going back to be with him. Goodbye, Roxas. See you again. I'm glad I got to meet you. You're my best friend, Roxas. Never forget." Xion reached a gloved hand up to softly cup Roxas' cheek. "That's the truth." And as soon as she said it, her touch restored truth, and Roxas remembered with perfect clarity.

"No! If you go away, we'll never have ice cream together again! How can we be friends then?"

Axel stumbled over to Lambda. "Everything Roxas knows, he learned from me. _Everything._ I told him friends are people who laugh when they have ice cream together, so that's his whole view of the concept of friendship. Don't mock him for it; he's just a kid, after all. Got it memorized?" With that, Axel opened a Dark Corridor. "I hate this whole state of affairs, but someone has to tell Sai'x we're going to be down two Keyblade wielders. Might as well be his own 'friend' who breaks the news to him." He stumbled through the Corridor and out of sight.

"...I need you to do me a favor. All those hearts that I've captured... Kingdom Hearts... Set them free." Xion murmured to Roxas. Lambda had to strain to hear her.

"Free them? Why... Wait! Xion, you...!" Xion's body began to crystallize, forming jagged chunks of ice and solid Light power from her feet up.

"It's too late...for me to help them. But you can't let Xemnas...have Kingdom Hearts. You can't. I...have to go now. See you again, Roxas..." Xion's eyes shut for the last time, and she vanished into sparkles that rose high into the air. All that was left in Roxas' hand was a single seashell.

"I remember... You left these for me while I was sleeping. You were thinking about me the whole time. I won't forget you, Xion. I'll free Kingdom Hearts for you, and we can be together again." Roxas pocketed the seashell, and formed a Dark Corridor.

As soon as Roxas disappeared through the Corridor, DiZ's voice echoed around the plaza. "Riku, after him!"

"Why? What's wrong? What the heck just happened?"

"Part of Sora's memory has returned to him, but the other part is with Roxas. If he tries to go through with this, the Organization will tear him apart. And unlike...the other, whose name escapes me, if he dies out there, he won't be able to return his share of Sora's memories and power. Go, now! There's no time to worry about the Darkness!" DiZ opened another Corridor, and Riku nodded.

"I'll get him back. Lambda, you coming?"

"Definitely. I'll tell you what everyone forgot on the way." Riku and Lambda entered the Dark Corridor hand in hand this time.

 **VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

 _The World That Never Was: Memory's Skyscraper..._

Riku and Lambda emerged from the Corridor in pounding rain. They were atop a pitch black building covered in unreadable neon signs, the tallest structure in a city that spread out as far as the eye could see. Above them, Lambda could see a small, heart-shaped Light, like a moon, but it was hanging in the sky below the storm clouds. "Is that Kingdom Hearts?"

"Yeah," Riku answered. "I can tell. I can see it perfectly, right through the blindfold. But where's Roxas?"

"Scanning... Roxas located. Axel located. Roxas is headed toward us at walking speed...and his power is off the charts! How much was Xion keeping from him?"

"Well find out soon. I just hope we're strong enough..."

 **VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

 _The World That Never Was: Alley to Between..._

Roxas appeared in the city, far from the Castle That Never Was. He didn't want to give away his mission too early by starting inside, where Sai'x would question him. He grit his teeth and started forward.

Around the corner, Axel was leaning against a wall. Roxas walked past him without a word, his purpose clear in every step. Axel let him pass, but said, "Your mind's made up?"

Roxas stopped walking, but didn't turn around. "Why did Xemnas need the Keyblade from me? I have to know."

"You can't turn on the Organization!" Axel burst out. "You get on their bad side and they'll destroy you! I should know... I carried out that system myself. Got it memorized?"

Roxas continued walking, casting his words casually over his shoulder. "No one would miss me."

"That's not true!" Axel called out on instinct. Then he slumped over and whispered, "...I would." Surprisingly, Axel meant what he said. He would miss those days on the Station Tower with Roxas. _Am I...sad right now? How...?_ Axel saw that Roxas would not be swayed. He was doing as his heart commanded, something no member of Organization XIII could achieve.

Roxas had always been different. Now Axel saw just how much the boy had actually grown during his tutelage. Well, time to report back to the Superior. This was the ickiest job Axel had ever pulled.He braced himself for his next mission, which would probably be to bring Roxas back.

As for the blond, he heard Axel's every word, but his only response was to put up his hood. As he passed out of sight of the fire master, Neoshadow Heartless rose from the ground. These powerful Heartless were the reason the newer members of the Organization weren't allowed in the city; each one was as strong as the Darkside he'd beaten with the help of...Who was it again?! It was important! _She_ was important!

Operating on instinct alone, Roxas summoned a Kingdom Key in each hand. He raised them over his head, and channeled his overflowing emotions into them to alter their shapes. Xemnas _was_ lying! He claimed emotion was forever beyond a Nobody's reach, but now Roxas would take this grief and turn it into power! He cut through Neoshadows three at a time. The white Keyblade, Oathkeeper, and the black Keyblade, Oblivion, ripped through the horde of boss-level Heartless like they weren't there. And when he was done, they weren't. He dashed ahead, barreling towards his fate at full speed, until it led him to the empty lot in front of Memory's Skyscraper.

There were more Neoshadows here, but Roxas wasn't concerned. Instead, he looked up at the dark presences he felt above him. At the top of Memory's Skyscraper, silhouetted against the nascent Kingdom Hearts, were the impostors, Riku and Lambda. Roxas dodged around Neoshadows as they pounced and tackled, making his way to the skyscraper. Then he took advantage of the absolute Light power flowing through him and the world's already unstable physics to run straight up the side. Riku jumped off and dove downward at him, unarmed. Enraged, Roxas hurled Oblivion up towards him, but he miscalculated how far it had to go. It slowed down just as Riku passed by, allowing the blindfolded warrior to grab it by the handle. Roxas ran up, Riku dove down, and they locked hidden eyes as they passed each other as if in slow motion. Then Roxas kicked off the building and landed in a crouch just as Riku did.

 **VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

 _Riku's perspective..._

As Riku grasped the inexpertly-thrown Keyblade, something tugged at his heart. As he passed Roxas and stared into the darkness under his hood, he saw a series of images. Another hooded figure, defeated on the ground, screaming in despair. A girl with black hair, collecting seashells on the beach. The same girl, dying in Roxas' arms. _X_...

Then the memories, both his and hers, faded into static. The image finally cut out, and Riku and Roxas realized they were on the ground, surrounded by Neoshadows. Before they could deal with each other, they cut up the horde of Heartless with equal ease. Roxas' Oathkeeper spun around, slicing through even the Neoshadows that tried to ambush him from behind. Riku was the one doing the ambushing on the other side of the clearing (the cardinal directions were as meaningless in this Realm as everything else). Once the field was clear of Heartless, the two realized again that they were enemies, and jumped to opposite sides of the lot.

"Who _are_ you, anyway?" Roxas tore his hood down to glare at his opponent.

"Someone from the dark. I can't have you just wandering around. The Organization will destroy you."

"But I've got to set Kingdom Hearts free! If I do that, everything will go back to the way it was! Axel and...the other girl...we can all have ice cream together at last!"

Lambda jumped off the Skyscraper and landed next to Riku. She hadn't been needed before, but now the true battle was about to begin. "Other girl? You mean Xion, right?"

Riku knew what Roxas was going through better. "It's a struggle just to remember the name now, isn't it? All our memories of her are following her back, alongside our memories of Sora."

"Sora, Sora, Sora! Enough about Sora! I'm getting Xion back, and freeing Kingdom Hearts is the only way!"

"So you remember her last request, but not where she said she was going. She's returned to Sora. Come with us, and we'll take you to him." Lambda extended a hand toward Roxas, but the Nobody swung Oathkeeper in challenge.

"I'm not going to listen to you people! I'll go to him...by going through you!" Roxas tried to summon Oblivion back to his hand, but it remained in Riku's hand. "What? You...! I'll kill you!"

Roxas charged forward, bouncing off Riku's Dark Shield. But before Riku could retaliate, Roxas slipped behind him and struck at his neck. Riku did a handspring to escape.

Lambda entered Battle Mode. She caught Roxas by surprise with Sickle Storm, grinding at his legs and causing the rogue Nobody to stumble. However, Roxas vanished into a shining ball of Light and zoomed into melee range. When he reappeared, he did so with a swirling barrier of Light pillars, and Lambda was forced to backdash. Riku leaped in from overhead, but Roxas jumped after him and knocked him to the ground.

Roxas carefully watched Riku's prone form. Riku yelled, "Why? Why won't you come with us?"

"Shut up!" Roxas moved to strike, but Riku did his famous kip-up attack. Just like all those duels on Destiny Islands, Riku turned the tables and got back in the game. Now Roxas was the one flat on his back.

Riku walked over, and seeing that Roxas did not respond, thrust Oblivion into the street next to his head. Almost as soon as he did, though, Roxas reached over to grab it and came up swinging.

Riku jumped backwards halfway across the lot. "Come on, Sora! I thought you were stronger than that," Riku taunted, using the same words that always motivated his rival into action.

"Get real! Look which one of us is winning!" At this point, Roxas' rage faded for a moment, as he realized he responded automatically to the wrong name.

"So it's true. You really are his Nobody. I guess DiZ was right for once."

"What are you talking about?! I am _me!_ Nobody else!" Roxas rushed forward again, running right through Riku's Dark Firaga and sundering his Dark Shield. Where was he getting all this power? Riku was unarmed, and now badly wounded. He fell to one knee.

"Riku! No!" Lambda rushed over to his aid, but Roxas raised Oblivion skyward and dropped three pillars of Light on Lambda, each one hitting with deadly accuracy and three times the power of the similar attack Xion used. Lambda fell to the ground, and Murakumo disappeared.

 _Riku! You have to stop him!_

Something inside Riku snapped at that moment. He forced himself to his feet, and brought a hand to his head. "Fine. You've left me with no other choice. To save Sora and now Lambda, I have to release the power in my heart...the dark power that I've been holding back." Riku undid his blindfold, and let it fall to the ground. Roxas froze as he saw Riku's eyes.

They were golden.

"I'll do it... Even if it changes me forever! RrrrAHH!" A massive column of Darkness blasted out of the ground at Riku's feet, lancing skyward and shrouding him from view. The power blowing out of the column pushed Roxas back several paces.

The Darkness cleared, and both onlookers were shocked at what they saw.

"What...?"

"Ansem...?"

Ansem, dressed in a Black Coat and with his Guardian floating behind him, smirked at Roxas. Before the moment of shock wore off, he _moved_ with blurring speed, seeming to appear directly in front of Roxas. The Guardian reached out and took hold of Roxas by the neck with both of its dark hands, choking the Nobody with undeniable strength. The last thing Roxas heard before he passed into unconsciousness was a completely different voice. If domination and ruin had one voice, they would sound like Ansem. "I have accepted it."

Oathkeeper and Oblivion fell out of Roxas' hands. As they clattered to the ground, they vanished in mirrored flashes of white and black. The Guardian slackened its grip and lowered the unconscious Roxas to the ground.

Lambda pushed herself to her feet. She feared the worst, but her scans identified the man as Riku, albeit a Riku with exponentially greater command of the Power of Darkness. "Riku...?"

Riku turned to look at Lambda with Ansem's eyes, but she could see the affection in them. When he spoke, he did so in his true voice. "Yeah, it's me. _This_ is what I was afraid of: that following where the Darkness led would lead me to become Ansem. But I'll do it, if it can help you guys in any way."

Lambda smiled. That was the Riku she knew. "Don't worry. I know it's you. I do hope you can one day get your own face back, though. Remember what I said about your eye color?"

"Heh. Yeah, I remember. Oh, here comes DiZ. Mind if I mess with him?" Riku drew his hood up as DiZ approached.

"I see you've succeeded. We must make haste."

Riku spoke in Ansem's voice. "DiZ... He could feel Sora."

DiZ paused for a moment, but it was anyone's guess as to whether the enigma noticed Riku's change in height and voice. "He told you how he 'felt,' did he? Ridiculous. A Nobody cannot feel anything."

"He would disagree. Isn't that what matters?" Lambda asked, but DiZ merely scoffed again.

"If he had met Sora, things might have been different." Riku picked Roxas up and carried him through the Dark Corridor DiZ had come through, followed by Lambda.

DiZ chuckled to himself as he stood alone in the rain and Darkness. "I'm still a fool, aren't I? I've held onto blatantly false hypotheses for so long, I'm just as bad as him. But I can't stop now. Xehanort...I'll defeat you yet." The red-cloaked enigma followed the children through the Dark Corridor. There was much to do.

 **VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

 _A/N: Thus ends the Kingdom Hearts: Three Five Eight Days Over Two (what a ridiculous title for a game!) section of Silver Linings! Next chapter will deal with Kokonoe's attempts to resolve the Time Break, and at least part of Roxas' brief stay in a digital Twilight Town._


	9. It's the Fate of a Nobody

**Silver Linings**

 **Chapter 9: "It's the Fate of a Nobody."**

 _A/N: Sorry this took so long. I was swamped by a bunch of plotbunnies that aren't related to this, and they got in the way of writing what I promised to write. What's the collective term for plotbunnies? A litter of puppies, a murder of crows, an epic of plotbunnies? Anyway, to recap, Roxas has been defeated at the cost of Riku's true appearance. Time to shove him in a virtual playpen to hold him still while Sora's memory pieces together. This will only take half as long as it did in the game, thanks to Xion getting roped in early, so let's see how virtual Twilight Town changes with only three days to live instead of six._

 **VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

 _Kokonoe's Secret Backup Lab, two miles from the Ibukido Ruins..._

Kokonoe had settled into her emergency backup lab. It was actually better-stocked than her usual lab under Sector Seven, since she didn't have to send requests to the bigwigs to get materials if she was basically stealing them and stashing them in a place they didn't know about. No big deal; the bigwigs couldn't get any real science done with the computers and raw materials anyway, and all the stuff in here was her own design in the first place.

Time to get down to business. Tager appeared from the teleport Kokonoe had set up in advance to bring him here in an emergency. Mechanical teleportation with the current technology had a specific upper limit on how much mass could be sent at once, and Tager was way over that limit all by himself, so the device in question sparked and died as he appeared. Kokonoe got right down to the briefing, trusting her subordinate to check his audio logs for anything he was too disoriented to catch.

"Okay, I've run the Time Break through every scan I can think of, and closing it isn't an option for us alone. It would take way too much energy to even hold it steady if you just reversed the Time Breaker's current. But it's not hopeless."

"What _can_ we do, then?"

"I've determined that the Time Break can only be affected if we hit it simultaneously from both sides. Your Time Breaker is what we need from our side, but we'll also need something from the Heart Timeline to use over there."

Tager was skeptical. It wasn't like Kokonoe to come up with only half a mad plot on her own. "Do you know what that 'something' is?"

"Yep, I sent some scrying magic through to watch Lambda, and she got a real good look at what we need."

Tager commented on Kokonoe's least favorite part of that statement. "Scrying magic? _You?_ "

Kokonoe growled. As much as she hated any sort of magic... "I don't think you grasp how serious this issue is. The Time Break is expanding in all directions. Any space it takes up isn't in either world, and it shows no signs of stopping. In fact, you sped it up by going through it twice. Then it sped up again from the magic. If it gets too big, or intersects another rip, a Collision Zone will form. Like two electromagnetic waves interfering with each other, the two timelines will cancel each other out, leaving _nothing._ No Heart Timeline, no Azure Timeline, no life. I didn't have enough time to come up with a gadget to use instead. Two universes are on the line right now. So I was forced to use Mother's abominable power instead."

"That _is_ serious. So, what do we need Lambda to obtain?"

"It's a weapon called a Keyblade. It uses the Power of Light, which is a Heart Timeline thing, to unlock or lock anything that can be locked, like doors, boxes, or even people's emotions. Lambda met a kid named Roxas who had two of them, but I got some scans, and they can't be stolen or taken by force; they'll just pop right back into his hands. So we need to get Roxas to use the Keyblade voluntarily. Luckily, Lambda already captured the kid, so I'm going to call up Lambda and iron out a plan. Hopefully the radio waves won't affect the expansion as much as mass or magic would. Stand by and listen in. You'll need to be ready to act exactly when Roxas does. Top off your battery while I'm at it."

"Roger. Standing by." Tager lumbered over to a wide cable, which was clearly labeled "CHARGE TAGER WITH THIS", and plugged the end into the matching port at the base of his skull. The meter showing his remaining energy crept upward while Kokonoe established a connection.

"Lambda, come in. You there?"

 **VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

 _Twilight Town: Mansion: Computer Room..._

Lambda watched as DiZ placed Roxas' unconscious body on the floor under a strange device. "What does this thing do?"

DiZ moved over to a large computer console and started typing before he replied. "It will remove Roxas' consciousness from his body, and place it in a virtual simulation of Twilight Town I've constructed. That should keep him occupied until Namine finishes her work."

Riku was nearby, still hooded and still using Ansem's voice. "He has two Keyblades. What kind of prison could contain him?"

"None, if he sees it as such. Therefore, his personal memories will be suppressed in his virtual avatar. He won't even remember he has the Keyblade, much less how to use it. If all goes well, he won't even realize he's in a simulation." DiZ replied evenly.

Lambda didn't like the way he worded that. "If all goes well? What if it doesn't?"

"If need be, the entire simulation can be paused at the push of a button. If the Nobodies somehow break into my system, the virtual Twilight Town will stop, preventing any of the townspeople from noticing or interfering. Roxas still has the Keyblade as well, and he will view Sora's memories in dreams. I have little doubt he can handle himself. Of course, ideally none of that will be necessary, as it would be much harder to fool Roxas if we pause the simulation." DiZ pressed a final key, and a column of energy covered Roxas momentarily. When it faded, his body was still there. His mind, however, was in the machine.

"RESTORATION AT 5%." The synthesized voice came over the computer's speakers.

DiZ smiled at the news. "Good. Sora's recovery has already begun. At this rate, we should be done in three days. Get some rest, children. You've earned it." He waved his hand over his shoulder, shooing them off.

As Lambda and Riku climbed the stairs out of the hidden basement, Lambda received a call on her radio. "Lambda, come in. You there?"

"Kokonoe? What do you need?" Lambda put up a finger to silence Riku, then put Kokonoe on a speaker he could hear. Her voice came from somewhere in Lambda's neck.

"I need to talk to you about that Time Break. I've been following your progress since shortly after you met Tager, and I need your help keeping the Time Break from expanding enough to wipe out both continuums."

"Oh, so that's what that scrying sensor is for. I noticed it around the time when Riku jumped off the building, which is why I didn't follow right away. Still, that sounds...serious."

"Deadly serious. I need you to find some way to get Roxas to use his Keyblade on the Time Break."

"Well, you probably saw us stuff Roxas in a simulation just now. I don't think the Time Break would be reflected in the virtual world, and we can't pull him before we merge him back into Sora three days from now. Sora would probably be easier to convince to help, anyway. How long do we have?"

Lambda could practically hear Kokonoe's scowl. "We have a week, at best. If Relius sends things back and forth too much in the Time Break he created, a Collision Zone could form by tomorrow. It wouldn't be the end of the world right away, but we couldn't use it to travel after that, and the expansion will constantly accelerate. It'll keep spreading until it eclipses both universes. Are there any other Keyblades you know of that we could get to work for us more easily?"

Riku spoke up. "King Mickey has one. Problem is, I have no clue where he ended up. He's not in this house anymore. I'll look around for him."

"Who are you, kid? I only connected to Lambda."

"Kokonoe, that's Riku. I put the call on external speaker so he could hear. He's the boyfriend I mentioned, remember?"

"Okay, good to know. Hurry and find this King Mickey person. Lambda, when you find him, direct him to the Time Break you saw earlier, and we'll close it from both sides."

"So it's like the Door to Darkness, then? We needed to lock it on both sides with two Keyblades to fix Ansem's first plot, when he tried to combine all the worlds into Kingdom Hearts."

"Sort of like that, except you'll need a power that only exists in the Azure Timeline to close our side. I've got that covered, so you'd better pull through on your end. We stand to lose everything if you fail."

Riku nodded, although he wasn't sure if Kokonoe could see him. "I won't fail. I have promises to keep, and people to protect."

"I've never figured out how having faith like that increases the odds of success so much, but the data supports it. Make it happen. Kokonoe, out." Lambda's speaker clicked as the connection cut.

 **VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

 _Virtual Twilight Town: The Usual Spot..._

Roxas blinked awake, trying to remember how he'd gotten here. He was in a sitting position on an old crate. Around him, kids who looked about his age were chatting, or maybe arguing. Who were they again?

Memories slowly faded into focus. Yeah, these were Hayner, Pence, and Olette, his friends in a neighborhood gang called the "Usual Suspects," whom he'd known over the last few years since he moved to Twilight Town. They always met up here at the Usual Spot under the train tracks to hang out after school, and contrary to their name, they mostly just hung out and ate ice cream. Of course, right now they were three months into summer vacation, so school wouldn't start again for four days, and they got to spend a lot of time together...

"Have you ever been this ticked off before in your life? Because I haven't. Nuh uh, _never!_ " Hayner was probably exaggerating at least a bit. What were they talking about again? Oh, wait, Hayner was about to loop over it again for the third time. "I mean, it's true that stuff has been stolen around town. And we've got that score to settle with Seifer and everything." Roxas winced for a second, remembering the utter beating he'd received from Seifer's "Disciplinary Committee." They'd even taken pictures afterward, and showed them off to whoever would listen. Hayner continued ranting. "So, if he wants to think we did it, I can't really blame him. No, what _really_ gets me is that he's going around telling everyone we're the thieves!"

Roxas spoke up. "Are you sure he's been telling people that?"

"Well, it's not like I heard him. But how else can you explain the way everyone and their mother has started treating us like the Klepto Club?"

"Yeah, I thought we had a good rep!" Said Pence.

"Why don't we figure out who really did it and set the record straight?" Olette always did have the best common sense in the group. It was why she would likely rail on the rest of the group for putting off their homework so long, at least after this thievery business was over.

"What should we do about Seifer?" Hayner, as usual, wanted to solve the problem by liberally applying violence. Roxas had spent a lot of time training on his own to get back at Seifer, but he couldn't be so sure about Hayner's Struggle Sword skills. Roxas tried to talk Hayner down for now.

"First, we gotta clear our names. Once everyone's off our backs, they'll be rooting for us when we rub Seifer's nose in it later. Besides, we can always get him at the Struggle." Roxas reasoned. It seemed to work.

"Okay, do we know anything about what was stolen?" Olette asked. Everyone was really getting into this. It was like a mystery!

Hayner scratched his head. "Not really. It's probably personal stuff, to get everyone so worked up."

"Let's start by asking around town! I'll bring the camera, so we can catch the thief red handed!" Pence ran over to the broken radiator on which he'd left the camera. He picked it up, but the giddy "We're going on an adventure!" grin fell off his face when he examined it. "They're gone! Our _ are gone!"

There was a conspicuous pause in his sentence, like one of the words had been left out...or deleted. He grabbed his throat, trying to force the word out.

"All our_, gone?" Hayner tried to say the missing word, but he didn't have any more success.

"You can't say _? Why not?" Olette also failed to say the word.

"I don't know! But you do know what I'm saying, right? Our _ are gone!"

"Stolen..." Roxas rephrased. "And not just the _. The word _! They stole it, too!" Roxas couldn't say the word, either. The word seemed to have been stolen from everyone.

"What kind of thief can steal a word? Seifer could never have pulled that off." Hayner's tendency to blame Seifer for everything looked pretty ridiculous right about now. Almost as ridiculous as a certain word vanishing from people's vocal chords.

"Well, at least we can probably prove we aren't the thieves now. Why would we steal our own vocabulary?" Olette reasoned.

"Let's go to Market Street and ask around! Bring the camera, Pence! If the thief is looking for _, maybe we can use some as bait!" Hayner charged out past the curtain that separated the Usual Spot from the rest of Twilight Town. Pence and Olette made to follow, but when Roxas tailed them, he got really dizzy all of a sudden.

For a moment, everything was black. There was a voice he didn't recognize: "His heart is returning. Doubtless he'll awaken very soon."

"RESTORATION AT 20%."

Roxas held his head and tried to steady himself. When he felt ready to continue, Olette had already dropped back to check on him. "You okay? C'mon, Roxas!"

"Yeah, I'm fine, I think. Let's go!"

Asking around town was pretty fruitless. No one knew any more than the Usual Suspects did, although they confirmed that the same things-and the same word-had been stolen from everyone. Most of them still treated Roxas suspiciously, more so than the rest of the gang, though he managed to convince the old lady at the candy shop of his good character by climbing up and getting her cat down from the shop awning. Still, that really only left Seifer's gang to ask. Hopefully they'd been conducting their own investigation.

When the group reached Seifer's turf, the Sandlot that would be repurposed tomorrow for the Struggle, it quickly became clear that the Disciplinary Committee was just waiting for their suspects to show up. Fujin, a girl with one visible red eye and usually only one word to spare in any sentence, spotted Hayner's group first. "Thieves!" This was just one example of classic Fuu-speak.

"That was low, y'know?" Raijin, a bronzed giant of a boy who preferred to go by "Rai" and ended every exchange of words with that particular slang, shook a fist at the group. Vivi, a little boy who was never seen out of his unique many-layered outfit, just shook his head. Roxas couldn't remember ever seeing Vivi's face clearly; he probably always hid it under that wide-brimmed, pointy hat because he was so shy. Still, he was pretty much the least threatening member of the Disciplinary Committee.

Hayner bristled. "Oh yeah?"

"Nice comeback, there, blondie. " The title of the most confident and skilled member of the Committee went to its leader. Seifer wore his trademark white jacket as he swaggered in. Ironically, under his black knit cap, Seifer was a "blondie" himself. "You can give us back the _ now."

Rai piped up. "Yeah! You're the only ones who would take it, y'know?"

"That was undeniable proof that we totally owned you lamers! So what did you do? Burn it?" Seifer chuckled. "Heh, not that we need some _ to prove that you're losers."

"Replay!" Fuu said. Sort of.

"Ha! Now you're talking!" No, she wasn't, but everyone knew what she meant. Seifer motioned to Vivi, who tossed out three different foam weapons; a wand-like mace with a star on the end, a bat like those used in the Struggle, and a thinner club with a hand guard. "Take your pick and we'll duke it out. Of course, if you get on your knees and beg, _maybe_ I'll let it slide."

Hayner looked angry enough to fry an egg in his messy hair, so the job of dealing with this the smart way fell to Roxas. He stepped forward and knelt before Seifer. The Committee was so busy laughing at him that they didn't see him eyeing the weapons. Roxas made his choice, and in a blink, he was armed with the regulation Struggle Sword and bopped Seifer in the chest. "You're on, Seifer! I'm no thief, but I've gotten better since last time!"

Seifer growled and straightened up, having skidded back a pace from Roxas' strength. When did that space case get so strong? Seifer pointed his own club at his opponent. "Cheap shot, Roxas. You can't beat me in a fair fight!"

"Yeah! Seifer won't even have to pull out his special move-the one he only uses in a tight spot, y'know?"

"I never had to use it last time, because these losers weren't worth it. Come on!" Seifer swung diagonally, but his footing was bad. Roxas met his swing and knocked him off balance. Seifer took three hits before he could jump sideways and get away from Roxas' combo. Actually, calling it a "jump" would give Seifer too much credit-he merely landed on his feet after Roxas knocked him away. "Okay, I'm impressed, really. It looks like you _have_ gotten better! But are you good enough to dodge this?" Seifer jumped high into the air, and sort of hung there for a second, paying no heed to things like gravity. "Isn't this _romantic?!_ " Seifer rocketed downward in a stab that he was sure Roxas couldn't block, but he met empty air and skidded to a halt on the ground. Roxas had simply hopped out of the way.

"That's your 'special move?' Maybe next time you should telegraph your attacks a bit more," Roxas finally taunted back, having been unnervingly silent for most of the fight (which had lasted only thirty seconds up to this point).

"Whoa." Even Fuu was impressed, apparently.

"Rrgh!" Seifer, having lost any semblance of control over the fight, started swinging his club wildly and running at Roxas. But Roxas merely slipped behind him, leaving a trail of Sandlot dust with his sliding sneakers, and knocked Seifer over from behind.

"And that's _my_ special move. I call it a Reversal. Does your floaty stab have a cool name, so we can put it in the record that mine's cooler?"

Rai and Fuu rushed to Seifer's defense. "Seifer's...not feeling so hot, y'know?"

"Tournament decides!" Fuu was flustered enough to use a rare "two-worder."

"Maybe so, but this is still going in the record! Roxas, gimme a smile!" Pence lined up a shot and snapped off a photo of a grinning Roxas in front of a downed Seifer. He tried to give Roxas a thumbs-up to let him know it was a good shot, but then some _thing_ zipped out of nowhere, slithered around Pence's torso, and snatched the whole camera! Whatever the white thing was, it snaked out of the Sandlot, floating through the air in a directionless manner as though blown about on a non-existent wind.

"What was that thing?" Hayner asked, voicing what they were all wondering.

"The thief?" Olette guessed.

"After him!" Roxas charged in the direction the thief had gone, not waiting to see if the Usual Suspects followed.

Roxas was led on a swift chase through Tram Common, past the big hole, and into the woods, where he nearly lost the strange creature in the trees. But now, the thief was finally cornered, swaying back and forth while it stood in the clearing in front of the old mansion. At least, Roxas hoped the thing was cornered. It might still be able to slip through the bars of the locked gate and escape.

Escape apparently wasn't the plan, though. As Roxas watched, a tab on the right side of the things "head" traveled across where its face should have been, making a sound like a zipper. The hole it previously covered blew open, though Roxas couldn't see what was inside.

 _We have come for you, my liege._

"What?" Roxas had understood the creature. It had spoken very clearly in a way that didn't involve any audible words, like a note was stuck to Roxas' mind with the sentence written on it. But why did it call Roxas its "liege?"

 _We have been ordered to bring you back at any cost._

"I have no clue what you mean, who you are, or what you want with me. But you need to give back what you stole, or I'll beat it out of you!" Roxas readied his Struggle Sword.

 _So be it._ The creature slid around Roxas' legs, and Roxas barely jumped free before it tightened the coil to trip him. Roxas smacked it while it tried to sort out its body after the miss, but the Struggle Sword just passed through the creature like it wasn't there. That didn't make any sort of sense, especially when the camera was still in its grip. A few more attacks and dodges didn't make any more progress in wounding the creature.

"It's no use..." What could Roxas use to hurt this thing? As he cast his gaze around for any weapon that might be more effective, he almost missed his club getting surrounded in an aura of white Light (when did he start spelling that word with a capital letter?) and rings of swirling data. All of a sudden, the light show was over, and Roxas wasn't holding the Struggle Sword anymore. Instead, there was a new weapon, shaped like an over-sized key, but heavy and metal and _right_. The weapon suddenly yanked forward to point straight at Roxas' enemy. Another word floated into Roxas' mind, its source echoing and very different from the enemy's "speech." **Keyblade... Keyblade...**

"Keyblade? Is that what this is?" The Keyblade continued to point at the enemy for another second, then Roxas was able to relax his stance. As he continued to look over the weapon, it flashed once and made a slight _ding_ sound, as though to reassure him that he had what he needed now. "Okay, let's try it!"

The white creature had frozen up when the Keyblade pointed at it, apparently struggling against invisible restraints, but now it launched at him with long, curved claws extended. Roxas did a Reversal to avoid the charge, and swung again while the creature twisted its body to search for him. This time, he scored a solid hit, knocking the creature away slightly and releasing a burst of yellow stars and Light. With his confidence restored, Roxas made quick work of the creature, who was really sort of a pushover now that Roxas had a weapon that could hurt it. It finally burst into blue sparks, and scattered little sheets of paper all over the ground: the stolen photos. Roxas gathered them up and returned to the others, wondering a bit at how they hadn't shown up for that whole exchange.

 **VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

 _Twilight Town: Mansion Computer Room..._

DiZ pounded his fist next to his keyboard. "Organization miscreants... They've found us."

"But why would the Nobodies steal photographs?" Riku wondered aloud.

"It is all nothing but data to them. The fools could never tell the difference." DiZ scoffed.

Lambda pictured how that might go. "So you mean they showed that Dusk a photo of Roxas and said, 'Go get this from the virtual Twilight Town,' and the Nobodies went off and stole more photos of Roxas rather than the real deal?"

Riku almost cracked up, and had to double over and cover his mouth to not give away the "Ansem" ruse (which he still had going) by letting out his real laugh. "I doubt we'll have too much trouble from the...Dusks, then. Lambda, how did you know what they're called?"

"I can scan things on the monitor. There seems to be a whole database of information about monsters in the Realm of Darkness that I can access through my dark-sense, but it only responds if I ask the right questions. I've figured out that 'What sort of monster is this?' is one of those questions."

"Very useful indeed," DiZ remarked, "but I doubt the Organization will send only pawns against us much longer. It also seems they have another way into the system; they certainly haven't used my device to get in. Look into it, you two."

"RESTORATION AT 30%." Progress reports sounded after every five percent of progress, and the frequency of them was reassuring.

"We'll see what we can do. There's another major crisis going on now, and we need a Keyblade to resolve it. If we can get Sora back, that'll be solved, but we may need to find Mickey before the end of both timelines gets here," Lambda reported.

"Another complication? What a time for the King to go missing..."

Riku spoke up. "I'll handle things in the simulation. Lambda, can you look for Mickey?"

"Sure. Just be sure to be here when I get back." Getting separated again was not high on Lambda's list of things she'd like to try again. Specifically, it was 15th, right above dying (did it count as "again" if it was another Lambda that died?), right below brain freeze, and 14 places below going on a second date with Riku. The list was fairly short, since she hadn't had much time to experience new things.

"...I understand." Riku responded, still feeling guilty about rushing the Dark Corridor and getting Lambda stuck with Phil's True-Hero Torture Training. "I'll be here when you return, and no power Roxas or the Organization can muster will keep me away. I promise."

Lambda gave Riku a quick hug, since he was taller now and wearing that hood, so kissing was out of the question...at least where DiZ could see. "See you soon. I promise." Lambda turned and dashed up the stairs to the outside, and Riku entered the blue beam of DiZ's Virtual Twilight Town Transfer Device (VT3D for short, as Riku could tell looking at the specification sticker above the portal, written in jargon acronyms that Sora could never understand). A column of data sucked him into the virtual world to prepare for Organization XIII's next move.

 **VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

 _The World That Never Was: Grey Area..._

"Are you kidding me? That's how they interpreted my order?" Axel only managed to avoid tearing his hair out by reminding himself that he spent a long time getting his hair just right. "Ugh... 'Do it right, do it myself,' but I was hoping to avoid getting this particular icky job..."

 **VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

 _Virtual Twilight Town..._

Roxas got the photos back to the Usual Suspects, who seemed surprised that he'd gotten them back so fast. Odd... From Roxas' perspective, the rest of them were just slow. Pence noticed something about the pictures.

"...Right? Every single one. All of them are of Roxas, or at least have Roxas in them."

"So that's why everyone thought it was us! But why would the thief want to steal photos of Roxas?" Olette wondered, then realized what she'd said.

"Hey! You just said 'photo!'" Pence exclaimed.

"I guess that means everything that was stolen can be returned, but how do we prove we weren't the ones who took 'em?" Hayner griped. "Roxas, you sure you couldn't catch the guy?"

"The pictures were just lying there." Not lying quite as hard as Roxas was lying right now, but if he told the gang what _really_ happened, they'd ask to have his head examined. The Keyblade had vanished for now, and Roxas couldn't quite remember how to summon it. Maybe there had to be danger involved, or did he need to already be using a weapon? Snapping back to reality, Roxas reassured everyone. "Don't worry about clearing our names. Seifer told me on the way back that he'll tell everyone about the weird guy...if I never tell anyone how bad I kicked his butt. Not in those exact words, but that was the gist of it." Everyone laughed.

"I guess I was wrong about him," Hayner mused. "Maybe he's not always an insufferable jerk."

"Yeah, just most of the time," Pence laughed. "We'll get him at the Struggle tomorrow. Meanwhile, I'll get the photos back to everyone. Olette, can you take half?"

So the whole mess was sorted out before the Station Tower struck 10 o' clock, which was the agreed-on curfew time for everyone in this world with no concept of "night." Roxas got in bed, and finally let go of the day's weirdness long enough to fall asleep...and experience the weirdness of the dreams again.

 **VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

 _A/N: Sorry, this one's pretty late. It's also really long to make up for it. I seem to have picked up new fans in the interim, so I hope the people who favorited or followed and didn't review still find the rest of the story to their liking!_


	10. I Wanted to Meet You

**Silver Linings**

 **Chapter 10: I Wanted To Meet You.**

 _A/N: Okay, it's been about a week since the last update. Here's Chapter 10! Roxas is still stuck in the Matrix-I mean The Grid-I mean virtual Twilight Town. He has a lot of boss fights to finish today! Riku will be there to lead him along, but Lambda has some searching to do. Mickey's bouncing around the worlds again, with a little help from Yen Sid. Neither of them are fully aware of the Time Break or the crisis it represents, but at least Mickey's not totally at the mercy of randomness like he was a dozen years ago. Also, I have re-named Hayner's gang the "Usual Suspects." It contrasts with the "Disciplinary Committee," and I'm honestly surprised that it's not canon. I'll probably fix the previous chapter to reflect this change._

 **VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

 _In the real Twilight Town: Tram Common..._

Lambda had put up her hood to hopefully avoid the Organization as she searched the town for Mickey. Her scans showed he was nearby, at least... wait, he just shot off to an adjacent world. He probably got on Yen Sid's train. Well, Lambda would ask the sorceror about that after checking on the Time Break again.

The rip in reality Tager had come through was huge now; it almost completely blocked off the main road to Station Heights. It was also definitely three-dimensional now, with its edges spiking in all directions to form a roughly ovoid shape. It was still expanding, though the rate of it was almost imperceptibly slow. A swirling image of metal walls could be seen through it, distorted by the way it was shown on the spikes. Lambda opted to take a detour through the Sandlot and Side Alley to get to the Station Tower rather than get too close to the Time Break. On the way, she passed by Seifer's gang, who were split into two groups. Seifer and Fuu were discussing something in whispers, while Rai and Vivi were taking turns hitting a white ball to try and keep it in the air as long as possible. Fuu looked up when Lambda passed by. "Who?"

Lambda stopped and turned, not removing her hood just yet. "I'm Lambda. I'm just passing through; there's someone I need to meet, and they just took a train out of town."

Seifer shook his head. "'Out of town?' There aren't any trains that leave town, except the one that goes to the beach. It's a little late in the summer to be going there, so what are you really looking for?"

Lambda laughed softly, not intimidated by Seifer's tone in the slightest. Still, he deserved at least a little explanation. "I understand your suspicion. After all, Twilight Town doesn't get visitors very often, does it? I did come to town on a train, though; there's a special line that doesn't just go to another town. It goes to another world."

"Now you're talking crazy, y'know?" Rai and Vivi had put their Grandstander practice on hold to join the conversation/interrogation. "The ghost train isn't real, y'know?"

"That's what it's called? It's real, alright, but it doesn't run on a schedule, as far as I know. I didn't get all the details from the man who owns it."

Seifer growled. "Okay, let's get straight to the point. Are you involved with that crazy rip in the air on Market Street? I'm Seifer, and as a member of the Twilight Town Disciplinary Committee, I need all the information I can get about it. Tell me everything you know. Now."

Lambda sighed. "Oh. That. I guess it would be pretty hard to miss the Time Break blocking the road. I'm looking for my friend to help stop that thing from spreading before it becomes an actual problem, so I can't afford to be held up here. We can do introductions when I come back, if there's time. One thing you do need to know, though: do _not_ attempt to pass through the Time Break, or even touch it. If you do, it will spread even faster." Lambda jetted off towards the stairs, knowing that seeing her levitate would shock these kids long enough to let her escape without too many more questions. Off to the Mysterious Tower!

 **VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

 _Virtual Twilight Town: The Usual Spot..._

Roxas woke up the next day from another bevy of strange images strung together with static. That boy, "Sora," had the same Keyblade Roxas had used yesterday, and he'd fought some huge monsters with it. He'd also shot a beam from it at "Keyholes," seeming to lock them from a distance. Weird. These dreams had been plaguing Roxas' sleep for as long as he could remember. It was always the same Sora, but his surroundings were always changing. Roxas had never been in his own dreams, and he knew he'd never met any "Sora." Fearing he might be going crazy, he'd never told the other Usual Suspects.

Today, Roxas pushed his way into the Usual Spot, but found no one there. A note in Hayner's handwriting explained where the gang had gone. _"Roxas, you're late! Get down to the Sandlot and Struggle! Don't forget, the beach trip is tomorrow! -Hayner!"_

"Oh, shoot! That's today!" Roxas dashed out. He nearly tripped over a stick in his haste. Picking it up, he was reminded again of the Keyblade from yesterday. "Keyblade, huh?" Swinging the stick around a few times in different ways, Roxas couldn't get it to transform into that powerful weapon again. Not that he had expected to manage it. Maybe he was going crazy. "What a mess..." Roxas tossed the stick over his shoulder, but didn't hear it clatter against the wall. He turned to see that the discarded stick had struck squarely in the chest of a man in a black coat. Where did he come from? "Sorry...about that..."

The mystery man said something in a deep, almost creepy voice, then turned and walked away towards the Sandlot. "Can you feel Sora?" Before Roxas could respond, the man was out of sight.

"What was that all about?" Roxas mumbled. Was the Sora from his dreams a real person, or was Roxas just going crazy some more? As Roxas looked at the stairs where the hooded man left, he heard the faint cheers of a crowd. "Oh, yeah, I almost forgot again! I've gotta move it!" Roxas dashed down the stairs to the tournament.

 **VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

 _Virtual Twilight Town: Struggle Sandlot..._

The black-hooded man wasn't at the Sandlot. He was tall enough that it shouldn't have been hard to locate him even in the crowd that gathered here once a year, but there wasn't a trace of black in the whole area. At least Roxas had arrived in time to sign up for the preliminaries, snagging the last spot on the roster. Hayner ran up as Roxas finished signing his name. "Yo, Roxas! How late did you sleep in, anyway?"

Roxas hesitated. "...I didn't sleep well last night."

"Was it because of yesterday's memory thief?"

"Sort of. He didn't show up again, if that's what you're wondering." No need to mention how Roxas had fought him off if he didn't have to. But should he really be keeping important stuff like this from his friends?

"That's good. Anyway, we both have to get to the finals! That way, whoever wins, the Usual Suspects split the prize!"

"Isn't there only one trophy?"

"Yeah, but they don't call it the Four Crystal Trophy for nothing, y'know? The crystals come off, y'know? ...Darn it, I sounded like Rai just now, didn't I?" 

"Yeah, that was a pretty good impression," Roxas laughed. "Anyway, don't worry. Seifer has nothing on me this time. This Struggle's in the bag."

Olette walked up to them. "You've never been in the Struggle before, have you? You just moved here this year, so you haven't seen it. It's not like fighting in a street brawl."

"How does it work?" Roxas asked.

Pence ran up to the rest of the group, huffing and puffing. "Phew, that's why I'm not signing up! Anyway, Roxas, each combatant gets an Orb Carrier. You strap it to your back, and each Orb Carrier generates exactly one hundred smaller Orbs that get knocked all over the arena when you take damage. The point is to get all 200 Orbs, or to have more than your opponent when the two minutes are up. Beating your opponent up is secondary, and knocking them unconscious is really hard with Styrofoam. Feel free to knock them down, though, since they'll be trying to grab Orbs too."

"Thanks, Pence! I guess I'll get the hang of it during the prelims." Roxas grinned.

"If you don't pick it up fast enough, I'll breeze right by you, Roxas!" Hayner boasted. "I've been in five Struggles!"

Olette giggled. "But you didn't even get to the finals once, Hayner!"

"C'mon, Olette! Don't tell him that! How am I going to inspire awe and majesty if he knows that?"

"Too late. I hope you've been practicing for this as much as I practiced for the brawl yesterday," Roxas chuckled.

"That, I can guarantee. First round's starting! I'm up!" Hayner jumped onstage and strapped a blue half-sphere Orb Carrier to his back like a backpack. His opponent was a small child who was making his Struggle debut today; his Orb Carrier was red. Too bad for the kid. Hayner won handily, with a score of 156 to the boy's 32, leaving 12 Orbs unaccounted for on the ground. "Woot! I've still got it!"

Roxas also had an easy time breezing through the prelims, since he never had to fight either Hayner, Seifer, or Vivi, who was also participating for some reason. Vivi always seemed too meek to enjoy beating people up with Styrofoam clubs, but he won his two matches without even getting hit, same as Seifer.

After all the scrubs were pruned from the bracket, only four fighters remained. Whoever emerged victorious among Seifer, Hayner, Vivi, and Roxas would go on to fight the defending champion, Setzer...and would have to contend with his screaming throng of fangirls. But first, there was an intermission to allow the fighters to rest. The blond announcer called out, "Okay, the finalists have been determined! You all have one hour to rest and buy any supplies you need for the finals! Your Orbs are on the line, so get stocked while you can! The Struggle will continue at 12 o' clock noon!" Roxas left the area to go to Tram Common and buy some Potions.

 **VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

 _Virtual Twilight Town: Tram Common..._

No sooner had Roxas entered the area than he nearly ran right into a blonde girl in a pristine white dress and equally white sandals, who looked about his age. "Sorry, um... Who are you?" Come to think of it, the whole area was unusually silent. Roxas looked over the stranger's shoulder at the old lady's shop, and her cat was just frozen in the middle of grooming itself. "What's going..."

Roxas found himself shushed by the girl's finger pressing against his lips. "My name is Namine." She released his mouth and clasped her hands in front of herself, but said no more.

Roxas scratched his head, confused. "Okay, Namine, I'm Roxas. What's going on, though?"

"I wanted to meet you at least once." As though that explained everything, the mysterious Namine simply turned and walked past Roxas toward the arena. When Roxas turned to follow her, with his previous shopping plan forgotten, she was nowhere to be found. Suddenly, the still and silent crowd began shuffling and shouting over each other again.

"That's so weird! Did Namine...stop everything? What _is_ she?" Roxas ran back to the crowd.

 **VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

 _The Virtual Sandlot again..._

"Hey, Roxas! I thought you were going to buy Potions?" Hayner called him over.

"I... had a change of plans." Hayner didn't seem to have noticed anything wrong. Was this why the Usual Suspects hadn't backed Roxas up when the thief attacked yesterday? Because they were stopped?

Olette looked at him funny, but then smiled. "Well, that's good. There's only a minute or two left before the finals start!"

Roxas did a double take. "What?! I just left a minute ago!"

Pence chuckled. "You probably think that because you were spacing out again."

"Well... Maybe." _It's either that or I'm going crazy...again. Well, time to test that theory._ "Have any of you guys heard of someone named Sora?"

"Who?" Olette asked. "She sounds like a cute girl. Have you been seeing someone and not telling us?"

Roxas turned as red as Pence's jersey. "No way! Sora's a guy, for starters, and I've been having weird dreams about him for weeks, like flashes of his life, and never anything about me. I've never met anyone named Sora, but it's always the same boy, every night, and I'm getting sick of watching that goofball. And today I've been seeing weird people around town who talk about him and then just walk away. Am I going crazy?"

"To put it like Fuu would...yes." Hayner flatly stated.

Roxas growled. "Remind me why we're friends?" The possible argument was interrupted by the start of the Struggle.

"Okay, it's time to introduce our combatants!" The announcer's voice boomed. "First, meet the leader of Twilight Town's 'Disciplinary Committee' and a regular finalist... Seifer!" Seifer smirked with his usual confidence.

"Second, leader of the 'Usual Suspects' and a local attitude problem... Hayner! He's gotten farther this year than ever before!" Hayner growled at this intro, but Olette noted that this was exactly why he was called the attitude problem.

"Third, coming completely out of nowhere for the Disciplinary Committee... Vivi! He must have trained really hard for this year's Struggle!" Vivi said nothing, but had his yellow eyes (the only feature visible beneath his hat) locked squarely on Roxas. The blond boy wondered why Vivi was so interested. For some reason, the younger boy's gaze made Roxas shudder.

"And lastly, the newest member of the Usual Suspects and a local favorite who didn't actually steal our photos... Roxas! This is his first time in the Struggle, and he's clearly looking to win!" Roxas realized everyone was looking at him, and he hastily put on a grin. Why did the announcer have to mention the [Blank] Incident? Sure, it was only resolved yesterday, but it was really awkward to bring it up now.

"So, who will win this sweltering summer Struggle? Who will take home the grand prize? This is the _summa cum laude_ of Struggle: the Four Crystal Trophy!" A cloth was removed from the trophy, revealing the swirling designs capped with four round crystals of red, green, blue, and yellow. The announcer continued, "And who will get the chance to take the Champion's Belt from our defending champion, Setzer?" Setzer whipped out the thick belt right on cue, showing off its golden plate for the crowd amid the squeals of his name from every girl in town who wasn't part of the two main gangs. The man knew how to keep up appearances, Roxas had to admit. His skills with a Struggle Sword were probably pretty decent, too, but Roxas was determined to dethrone the champ today.

"Now, Roxas and Hayner take the first match. Step onstage, combatants!" The two finalists from the Usual Suspects jumped onstage and received their Struggle Swords from the portly manager, then faced each other. The announcer called the start of the match. "And now, the moment you've all been waiting for! Let's..."

" _STRUGGLE!_ " The last word was joined by the whole crowd, right as Roxas and Hayner leaped towards each other. Only Hayner intended to actually strike, though; Roxas stopped short and did a Reversal to get behind Hayner. The older boy's swing met nothing but air, and Roxas combo'd him while he was off balance, knocking thirty Orbs directly out of Hayner's pack. Roxas picked up the Orbs, as Hayner picked up himself up from the floor.

"It's not over yet, Roxas! C'mon!" Hayner swung laterally, but Roxas blocked it and got him again, knocking twenty-five more Orbs out to fall on Roxas' head and get absorbed into his pack. This time, though, Hayner lunged back in with a powerful thrust, and Roxas lost twenty Orbs. Hayner wasn't quick enough to grab them before Roxas got them back, though, and when time ran out, the score was 155 to 45, Roxas' favor. Hayner fell over when time was called.

"And the winner is Roxas! Not even friendship can slow this guy down!"

Roxas ran to Hayner's side, wondering if he was injured. "Aw, I lost! I can't believe it!" Nope, he was just being dramatic; good.

"Sorry, man. I guess it wasn't so different from a street brawl after all?" Roxas pulled Hayner to his feet.

"No worries. I guess I taught you well!" Roxas and Hayner shook hands amid the cheering crowd, though Roxas couldn't remember Hayner ever teaching him anything. He decided to leave Hayner's bad-boy image intact...for now.

The next set of fighters took the stage. "The next match is... Seifer versus Vivi! Look at those sparks fly! I guess Seifer didn't expect to fight one of his own boys!" Well, Seifer was certainly sending sparks flying. Vivi wasn't even looking at the fight, and was still staring at Roxas.

"Why does Vivi keep staring at me?" Roxas murmured to Olette. The girl couldn't hear him over the crowd, though.

"Hey! You should respect your elders!" Seifer called, finally getting the younger boy's attention.

"Three, two, one... STRUGGLE!" At once, Vivi launched at Seifer, displaying far more speed and precision than he had during the prelims. In perfect silence, he swung at Seifer from several angles that the leader could barely block. However, after the combo, Vivi went back to a rest position, allowing Seifer to knock him aside, which caused Vivi to drop a trio of red Orbs.

"You're mine!" Seifer ran for the Orbs, expecting Vivi to be downed by his last attack... However, Vivi was not only still active, he was right in the way. In a blur of motion, Seifer was thrown through the air. He landed on the other side of the arena amid a cluster of twenty of his own blue Orbs.

"I...I'm not sure what just happened," the announcer sounded unsure for once, "But it seems the winner by knockout is... Vivi! What a positively blistering comeback!" Vivi gave back his Struggle Sword and waddled off the stage as though what he had done was perfectly normal.

Rai and Fuu picked up Seifer and carried him out of the area. As they passed the Usual Suspects, Seifer woke up from momentary unconsciousness and spoke to Roxas. "That's not Vivi. Thrash him."

Roxas wondered, "It's not Vivi? Then...who is it?" Seifer must have known Vivi well enough to see some difference in the battle, but what?

Rai came back from the Tram Common a minute later. "Vivi's a good kid, y'know? If he'd actually knocked out Seifer, he'd have said he was sorry later. Crush that fake for us, y'know?"

"Outsider..." Fuu murmured, leading Rai back to their leader.

A few minutes later, the final match was set up. "Let's get ready for the final round! Roxas versus Vivi! Both of our combatants are a major surprise; my money was on Seifer versus Roxas for this match, and I have to pay up after this! Ha ha! Okay! Ready... Set... STRUGGLE!" Roxas made a point to dodge Vivi's first attack, noting that his opponent's Struggle Sword actually enlarged as it was swung, growing to be even larger than Vivi himself. Did Vivi know magic or something? Was this against the rules? Whatever it was, Vivi left himself open like last time after the club shrank back to its normal size. Roxas took advantage of the opening with a combo, making sure to keep an eye on his opponent even as he ran to collect the Orbs that dropped. It turned out to be a good precaution; Vivi cartwheeled in front of Roxas and recollected the last group of Orbs, then spun around as his club continued to grow. Roxas fled from the two spinning swings and a truly enormous stab, then caught Vivi during the pause afterward. It seemed that Vivi had to stand still to prepare another of those giant swings. But before Roxas could land the next blow, a strange distortion rippled through the air around them. Roxas jumped back a bit.

The timer on the left side of the crowd was frozen at fifteen seconds. The crowd itself was paused and silent, some of them seeming to float off the ground in mid-bounce. Vivi, on the other hand, was still moving, though he didn't do much besides blinking his eyes. Then, white energy began to stream towards Vivi from somewhere, obscuring him from view. When the energy faded, Vivi was gone, replaced by another white jumpsuit-creature like the thief from yesterday. "Again?" Roxas tried to swing his Struggle Sword at the creature, but met with no more success than before. Instead, two identical creatures dropped out of the sky and joined the attack. Roxas backed away, wishing that the Keyblade from yesterday would also appear again...

"Roxas, use the Keyblade!" That voice! Roxas temporarily forgot the fight and looked up. On one of the rooftops, Namine was peering down at him with an expression of deep concern. There was no time to ask any questions, though, because the creatures took that moment to charge at Roxas. The boy put his arms up in a futile effort to protect himself from the blows...but they never struck. Instead, there was a blinding flash of Light, which faded to reveal that Roxas was standing in a completely different place.

 **VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

 _The Station of Serenity..._

 **Power sleeps within you.** That was the voice that announced the arrival of the Keyblade! This time, it heralded the arrival of a shining sword that appeared right in front of Roxas. **If you give it form...** A staff topped with three blue spheres, connected at an angle like cartoon mouse ears, appeared to the left of the sword, relative to Roxas. **It will give you strength.** A red and black shield with the same mouse symbol as the other weapons flashed into being on the right. **Choose well.**

Roxas noticed that the creatures from earlier were standing on thin air around the platform Roxas stood on, which had a picture of the same Sora from his dreams. The boy appeared to be sleeping peacefully, but held the Keyblade in his hand. Next to Sora were four images of his friends, all of whom featured prominently in Roxas' dreams. There was Riku, Sora's best friend and rival, Donald Duck, the short-tempered magician, Goofy, the knightly dog who only used a shield in combat, and that red-headed girl Sora liked. Roxas didn't know her whole name, since the dream scenes always cut out halfway through anyone saying "Kai-," but he knew she was really important to Sora. But back to the matter at hand.

The creatures seemed to be standing still, but they were swaying back and forth, waiting for Roxas to make his choice. Roxas instinctively knew they weren't really the same creatures; they were only symbols in this dream. But he still needed a strong weapon to defeat them, so he approached the sword.

 **The Power of the Warrior. Invincible courage. A sword of terrible destruction. Is this the form you choose?** The voice echoed as Roxas laid his hand on the sword's hilt. Roxas paused at that description, but nodded and grasped the weapon more tightly. He needed that strength to defeat these weirdos who kept coming back and attacking him. And if he only destroyed the right things, then this "Power of the Warrior" couldn't be a bad thing, could it? **Your path is set. Keep your Light burning strong.** The sword vanished in a flash of Light, replacing itself with the Keyblade. Roxas grinned; the sword itself hadn't felt as _right_ in his hands as the "Kingdom Key" did. The weapon's balance was better now than it was yesterday, and Roxas was ready for the enemies as they strode onto the platform. They didn't even last as long as the thief from yesterday.

As the last white creature vanished, a door appeared at the edge of the platform above Sora's head. It was standing up with nothing behind it, but Roxas could tell that opening this door was important. The voice confirmed it. **Be careful. Beyond that door lies an entirely different world. But don't be afraid. Don't stop walking. And don't forget: you are the one who will open the Door.** Huh? Something felt wrong about that last statement, like the voice was referring to someone else the whole time. Sora, perhaps? How could Roxas be connected to Sora so intimately that this voice, who sounded more and more like "destiny" personified, could confuse one for the other? Still, Roxas recalled how Sora handled doors in the other dreams, and pointed the Keyblade at the center. Sure enough, Light collected at the tip of the Keyblade and shot a beam of that pure power at the door. There was an audible click, and the door swung open to reveal a blaze of Light so bright that Roxas couldn't look at it directly. He shielded his eyes with his free arm as he stepped through.

 **VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

 _The Mysterious Tower..._

"Ah, Lambda. Why have you returned?"

"I'm looking for King Mickey. We need his help-and his Keyblade-to stop this universe from colliding with the one I came from."

"Oh dear. Mickey did come here not long ago. He wished to borrow my Star Shard again to travel from world to world, to fix the damage the Heartless are even now wreaking everywhere. I made sure to also give him the manual this time-the last time he 'borrowed' the Star Shard, he had no clue how to control it, and it made tracking him down quite a hassle as it tossed him randomly amongst the stars. Rather than let him try to steal it again, I sent him off with proper instruction."

"So he's off on another world? Is it still possible to track him down? This is kind of important. Two universes could disappear if I can't catch up to him."

"Fear not. As long as he plans his destination, I can trace him. Catching up to him will be another matter, of course, but I have faith you can do it." Yen Sid once again called on his magic to create a swirling cloud and a scrying image, showing Mickey running through a town covered in sand. "Use this image to set the destination of the Corridor of Darkness, Lambda. Go quickly, or you'll miss your chance."

Lambda created a Dark Corridor, having watched Riku and the Organization do it several times now. She rushed through and closed the portal behind her, leaving Yen Sid to resume his meditation.

 **VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

 _Agrabah: Bazaar..._

The first thing Lambda noticed as she set foot in this new world was a blast of dry heat. "Oh, that's right. We visited Agrabah in Castle Oblivion. I guess the heat back then was accurate..." Aside from the heat, though, there wasn't much resemblance beyond the color scheme here. For one thing, every surface seemed to have some damage and wear. For another, more obvious thing, every surface was also covered in a sea of sand. Huge piles of sand sat everywhere Lambda looked, from the market stalls that could be selling either plates or sand, to the large dune by the town gate that showed signs of people sweeping it up. There wasn't anyone on the streets right now, and all the windows and even the town gate were boarded up. "I guess there was a sandstorm or two. Or five, from the looks of things. Is another one coming soon, or did one just pass? I've got to find Mickey soon..."

In a stroke of luck, Mickey charged out of a nearby tunnel and ran right up to the town gate, leaping straight over the high walls. He didn't seem to notice Lambda at all, which was odd since she was still dressed as a member of Organization XIII. Come to think of it, the Black Coat wasn't really a good choice for a search mission in the desert. Lambda summoned Murakumo and dismissed the Black Coat, to reduce the insulation and improve her abilities enough to follow Mickey over the wall.

That mouse moved _fast!_ When Lambda hit the dune outside Agrabah, Mickey was already so far away she could barely see him, although the area was very flat and level. She shot off after the King, who seemed to be making a beeline for the cloud of sand brewing on the horizon. Hopefully Mickey knew what he was getting into.

Lambda finally caught up with her quarry because he stopped in some half-buried ruins. He held up a hand without even turning, and pointed to the far end of the ruins where sand was being kicked up by a massive Heartless. "How did that Heartless get that big?! Is that what's causing the sandstorms?"

"That Antlion got lucky. It got the lion's share of the Darkness in this world, and was able to manifest as a much larger Heartless than most."

"Would you say it got the 'Antlion's share?'" Lambda chuckled, but Mickey didn't join in.

"This is no time for jokes! We've got to defeat that thing before it stirs up another sandstorm!"

"I'll help, Your Majesty!" Lambda started scanning the enemy and determined that its weakness was its face. Attacking the stack of gears that made up most of its body would be ineffective.

"Please, just 'Mickey' is fine. Let's go!" Mickey summoned his Keyblade and charged in, delivering several spinning strikes to the Antlion. Lambda supplemented his offensive with summoned swords. For the first few hits, it seemed the giant Heartless hadn't even noticed them while it continued to swim through the sand in aimless curves, but eventually it dug down out of sight. A few seconds later, it burst back out of the sand and hovered upright in midair. Lambda's efforts to shoot his face from below were turned aside by the powerful tornado the Antlion generated as it spun around. There had to be some magic involved, since simple wind wouldn't have stopped Sword Summoner EX. Lambda held back as she tried to determine a better way to attack the monster.

A few chunks of ruined buildings were sucked into the tornado, and all of them were launched directly at either Lambda or Mickey. Lambda hit them right back with her Petals as Mickey dodged others with a super-high somersault. They didn't expect the returned projectiles to do any more damage than their own attacks, but somehow the rocks got caught in the tornado and clocked the Antlion on the head one after another. More chunks continued to shoot out, and the pair of warriors continued to return them to the sender. After five hits, the Antlion fell to the ground and was halfway buried in the sand, seemingly dazed. Not wanting to waste this chance, Lambda and Mickey unleashed everything they had on its face while it was stunned, with Mickey shooting orbs of Light that bounced off the Antlion only to curve back around and strike again while, Lambda used two giant Calamity Sword attacks in quick succession (the IDEA Engine had a refined targeting protocol that enabled her to drop a Calamity Sword right on the enemy's head, regardless of distance). The giant Heartless finally exploded, releasing a huge heart into the sky.

"Good job, Lambda! Thanks for your help!" Mickey dashed over to her at his usual full speed.

"Yeah, that's great, but I actually need _your_ help. There's a sort of rip between my universe and this one in Twilight Town. It's called the Time Break, and it's spreading. We have to close it before it gets too big to contain, or both universes will disappear. I need you to use the Keyblade on the Time Break at the same time my contact on the other side, Kokonoe, attacks it."

"Sure, I'll help! This time I can get us right where we need to go!" Mickey reached into a pocket of his Black Coat and pulled out a star-shaped crystal with five rounded points. "The Star Shard can get us right there faster than using a Corridor of Darkness!"

"Okay. It's in Twilight Town's Tram Common, right between there and Station Heights. Try not to land on the Time Break, okay?" Lambda knelt down and grasped Mickey's shoulder as he raised the Star Shard above his head.

"Alakazam!" Mickey's magic word caused the Star Shard to erupt in a blinding flash of Light, and then the two travelers were careening through the stars. They bounced in random directions as a streak of Light, always getting closer to their destination on average even with such a chaotic flight path. They were indeed moving quickly, though. It only took a few seconds, or at least it only felt like a few seconds, before they crashed into Tram Common between the still-closed Synthesis Shop and the Armor Shop.

"...Remind me never to travel by Star Shard ever again," Lambda muttered as she tried to get her bearings. She couldn't get stomachaches, thankfully, but that flight left her dizzier than she'd ever been before. It took fifteen seconds for her to stop stumbling around and collect her thoughts well enough to call Kokonoe. "Kokonoe, come in. I've got Mickey here. Are you and Tager ready to seal your side of the Time Break?"

"We've been ready all night! Put this on speaker again; Mickey will need to hear this to time it right." Lambda set the call on her external speaker. "Get in position and wait for my signal. If we don't do this right at the same time, it'll just waste energy."

"Right! I see it now! Yikes, that's scary!" Mickey re-summoned his Keyblade and pointed it at the Time Break. Light gathered at the end of it, but waited for Mickey's command to fire.

"Okay, Tager's in position. 3... 2... 1... and CLICK! Now, Mickey!" Mickey fired the beam of Light, and the Time Break began to glow in a chaotic rainbow as it flew. It made contact while the Time Break was still glowing; success! The rift began to release sparks of electricity as it rapidly shrank to nothing. Before it closed completely, Kokonoe sent, "Thanks, Lambda. That's one down!"

"One? Are there more?" Lambda wondered aloud. Her radio crackled again.

"Unfortunately, one of my enemies has been making Time Breaks of his own. We closed this one, but it'll take some doing to close all the rest. I know there's still one in the Boundary, for example; the one you originally fell through. We've only bought a little time with this. Relius Clover won't give up on it, whatever he hopes to accomplish with these."

Lambda shuddered at the thought of that man, even though she'd never met him. He was basically only a concept in Lambda's programming, sitting alongside her general database of Azure Timeline knowledge, but he was the scariest concept she could imagine.

Mickey tried to frown. As usual, he only succeeded in making a sort of "frustrated smile." He asked, "Do you have any idea where to find the next Time Break, Kokonoe?"

"I've tracked the signal the radio's using to reach you. Unfortunately, that only tells me so much about your end. I'll have Tager pass through the next Time Break from our side to figure that out, and contact you with the coordinates. Lambda, I'm sending you a radio." Sparks of electricity fizzled around Lambda's hand, and she was suddenly holding a simple walkie-talkie. "Give that to Mickey so he can work with us. And get back to Riku, okay?"

"Affirmative, Master Kokonoe... Wait, what did I just say?"

"...Okay, I didn't think you got _that_ from the other Lambda. I'll delete the control protocol assignment on my end; there's no point in putting your will on a leash when you're doing so well without it." There was a sort of pressure in Lambda's head for a few seconds, and then it felt like a weight she'd never noticed had lifted off her shoulders. "Go on, get. You have a promise to keep."

"Sure thing, Kokonoe. Lambda, out." She dashed back to the Mansion to meet back up with Riku.

 **VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

 _The Station of Awakening..._

Beyond the door was another identical stained-glass platform. Roxas walked to the center, wondering what sort of trial waited here.

"Get ready, Roxas! They're here!" Roxas whipped around to see the black-hooded man from the start of the day, only to watch him vanish in a burst of Darkness (and there was that capital letter again). For some reason, Roxas expected more of a slow, swirling effect, but almost as instantly as the mystery man vanished, he was replaced by something a lot more worrisome.

A giant head, lacking any sort of face but marked with a strangely familiar emblem, rose up from beyond the edge of the platform. It was followed by a massive white creature similar to the ones from earlier (who had also had this emblem on their heads, come to think of it). As soon as the creature's full stature stomped onto the platform, rational thought blanked out of Roxas' head. All he could see was a vision like the Sora dreams, of a similar platform and Sora fleeing from an equally-large black monster. The dreams had never happened within other dreams before, and certainly not while Roxas was in danger! The boy unknowingly repeated the actions Sora had done, and only came back to himself while he was whirling his arms to avoid plummeting off the platform's edge into nothingness. Regaining his balance, Roxas decided that if flight wasn't an option, then the only thing left to do was fight. He summoned his Keyblade, having finally remembered how to do it without a catalyst, and stood his ground while he looked the monster over for weak spots.

Unfortunately, the weakest part of the beast was its head, and before Roxas could find a way to climb up there, the monster made the first move. Its limbs remained stationary, but Roxas was briefly surrounded by thorns of black and white energy (they weren't quite Darkness, but they definitely weren't Light). Roxas found himself yanked into the air, his limbs extended in an X shape by balls of thorny energy restraining him. The boy struggled to free his limbs, even though doing so would cause him to fall about ten feet to the glass, but he couldn't make any headway before the beast, which Roxas suddenly knew was a _Twilight Thorn_ , leaned its head in close. The enemies' foreheads were almost touching when the Twilight Thorn sent a message to Roxas' mind as the... _Dusk_ had done earlier.

 _We have come for you, my liege. Do not trouble Number VIII any more._

"Why do you things keep calling me your liege? And who is 'Number VIII?'" Roxas glared as he yelled at the Twilight Thorn.

 _Your resistance will be met with force._ The Twilight Thorn leaned away and drew a massive fist back to punch Roxas. As he did, Roxas struggled against his bonds, and realized that they were only at full strength when the monster was motionless. He could move his limbs! Roxas made full use of his new mobility to "jump" over the punch and clock the monster on the head with his Keyblade. He didn't think he did that much damage, but the monster reeled back and spun away like a top.

As it stopped spinning and floated over the edge, Roxas found his limbs locked securely again. He couldn't pull away as the beast's arms _stretched_ and grabbed the boy in both fists. The energy holding him still vanished, but it hardly mattered in the monster's grasp. Roxas was tossed straight up into the air, and the Twilight Thorn prepared to punch him as he fell back down. Thinking quickly, Roxas angled himself to fall slightly forward and came down Keyblade-first on the giant's head, doing a lot more damage with the added momentum. Roxas landed lightly on the glass, and the monster slid off the platform like spilled water flowing downhill. Roxas ran to the edge to make sure it was gone, but not finding any sign of it didn't reassure him. He ran back to the center of the platform to have more room to dodge, but as soon as he made it there, the whole platform rumbled and tilted! The Twilight Thorn used its insane strength to flip the entire platform so it's fathomless height stretched above rather than below, and Roxas' last-ditch effort to dig the Keyblade into the edge failed. Roxas began to fall endlessly, but the monster wasn't done with him yet. It waited below, hoisting a giant energy bomb over its head with both arms. In a truly desperate maneuver, Roxas threw the Keyblade straight at the bomb with a wild yell. It worked well enough; the bomb exploded, dealing massive damage to the Twilight Thorn and stunning it. The shockwave also flung Roxas backward, to land on a new identical platform. The Keyblade wedged into the glass by his head, and the Twilight Thorn crashed into the platform last, apparently unconscious.

Roxas shoved himself to his feet, yanked the Keyblade out of the floor, and whaled on the monster's head for six swings. Then the beast rose to its feet without any aid from its arms. "How many times do I have to beat you?" Roxas growled.

The Twilight Thorn didn't respond verbally, but sent streaks of thorny energy out to try and spear Roxas. He used a Reversal to dodge, but gravity seemed to be taking the day off. The latest improbable aerial feat performed in this fight caused the boy to flip into the air and flow around more streaks, getting closer to the beast's weak point. Roxas got into range and hacked away as he flipped and bounced around the monster's head, and something in the Twilight Thorn finally gave way. Roxas fell to the ground as gravity finally reasserted itself, and the beast seemed to deflate as it fell to its knees.

Uh-oh. Sure, the monster was dead, but its corpse was large enough to crush the whole platform! Worse yet, the Keyblade vanished from Roxas' hand, and he saw a vision of the same thing happening in Sora's hand. The dead monster finally collapsed on top of Roxas, releasing a plume of Darkness. While the beast had no weight of its own, and faded away as the Darkness thickened, that Darkness itself threatened to suffocate Roxas.

There was no air, no Light, no hope... Roxas flailed blindly and desperately, searching for any support in the Darkness. Just as he was about to give up completely, a thin, warm hand grasped his own. Light poured out from where the two were connected, and Roxas found himself in a white space with strange, crown-like objects floating in place. Across the room, casually sitting on a white cube, was the blonde girl from before: Namine.

 **VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

 _The White Space..._

"You saved me... Thank you." Roxas nodded and grinned gratefully.

"I just wish I could do more. After all, Roxas... Do you remember your true name?"

"What...?" Roxas couldn't make sense of that question. Before he could even ask for an explanation, though, the mystery man reappeared.

"Say no more, Namine."

"But if no one tells him, Roxas will-" Whatever was going to happen to Roxas was interrupted by the man.

"It's best he doesn't know the truth."

"Since when is that ever for the best?" Roxas yelled. "Give me some answers already! Who are you people?"

The man gestured silently, and Roxas heard a strange rushing sound from behind him. He turned to stare at the round portal of Darkness that had just appeared.

Big mistake. As soon as Roxas' attention was off the hooded man, he was shoved into the portal and back to Twilight Town.

 **VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

 _Virtual Twilight Town: Struggle Sandlot..._

Roxas opened his eyes in the Struggle arena, though the crowd was still paused. No one was on the stage with him.

Suddenly, Roxas heard slow clapping. It wouldn't have been loud normally, since the person in question was wearing leather gloves. In this unnatural silence, however, the mocking sound was deafening. Roxas whipped around to glare at the intruder. "Are you that guy again?"

"Roxas, alright! Fight fight fight! I would never have guessed even you could beat the Twilight Thorn. That's another cool toy you've taken from the Organization... The boss won't be happy, but then he won't be frustrated either. That's just what he's like." Okay, this was not the same person from before. For one thing, his Black Coat (why were all these common words turning into proper nouns for Roxas this week?) had thinner sleeves, and his voice had a completely different tone and attitude. At Roxas' blank look, the new stranger sighed. "You really don't remember? It's me! You know, Axel." The stranger removed his hood, revealing bright jade eyes with small teardrop tattoos underneath and a long mane of the reddest red hair that was ever styled into spikes. The man obviously expected to be recognized, but although Roxas should remember if he'd met someone like this, he didn't know this man at all. Roxas tensed as the man stomped up the steps to the arena past the still-paused crowd. "Talk about Blank with a capital 'B.' Man, oh man, even the Dusks aren't gonna crack this one." The man splayed his fingers on both hands, and a whirl of fire heralded the appearance of his unique ring-shaped chakrams.

Roxas stepped back from the aggressive action, but then the Keyblade appeared in his hand. "Again?"

Axel smirked. "Orders are orders. You're coming with me, conscious or not. Then you'll hear the story." He settled into a relaxed pose, chakrams held loosely at his sides, but Roxas could tell that Axel could react in the blink of an eye; he projected years of experience and confidence.

Roxas finally had enough of these strangers butting into his life and attacking him with their cryptic nonsense. He threw the Keyblade right at Axel's face, yelling, "What's going _on?_ "

Axel hopped sideways, his green eyes never straying from Roxas' blue ones. The coated man's smirk only widened when the Keyblade vanished in midair before hitting the wall, only to reappear in Roxas' hand. "Number XIII: Roxas. The Keyblade's chosen one! You want to fight me? For what?"

"Unfreeze the town and get out of here. Stop saying things that don't make any sense!" Roxas swung the Keyblade aggressively to the side.

"You're worried about the town? It's his creation, right? Which means we don't have time for a Q and A. I'll be taking you in now." Axel flung his left chakram at Roxas, who parried with the Keyblade and sent it bouncing upward. In the space between the ring's disappearance and when it reappeared in Axel's hand, Roxas charged forward and swung down, only to be stopped on the flat side of Axel's other chakram. "Seriously, Roxas, you're making a mistake. Stand down before I have to hurt you!" Roxas had to jump back when Axel got his other weapon back and lashed out with it, not waiting for a response.

"Okay, you asked for it!" Roxas dashed forward, then slipped behind Axel with a Reversal. Unlike every other enemy so far, however, Axel turned with Roxas' slide, and still managed to block the following strike.

"I've been watching you fight the Dusks. I know your only trick by now!" Axel suddenly threw both chakrams, creating a whirling blaze of fire in the air in front of him. Roxas was scorched and thrown back by the attack. "Did I ring any bells yet? You should know how I fight, too!"

"..." Roxas couldn't respond through the pain of his burns, but he reached deep inside for his last reserve of strength, hoping he could end this. A burst of power lit his Keyblade up in an aura of Light that doubled its reach, and the pain of his wounds faded temporarily. Even though Axel had an extra weapon, he couldn't keep up with Roxas' next wild rush or the pillars of Light that followed. Roxas didn't seem to notice that even his own attacks were capped with the emblem of the Nobodies as they rolled outward in all directions, throwing Axel backward to land on his knees. "Tell all your cryptic buddies to leave me alone!" Roxas yelled as fatigue started to catch up to him again.

Axel panted as he pushed himself to his feet. "A Limit Break, huh...? I guess you're still in there after all." An unidentified emotion began to creep into Axel's tone as he continued to talk. "But you always think you can just do whatever you want. Well, I'm sick of it." He stood ramrod straight, glared right at Roxas, and pointed his chakram forward. "Go on, you just keep running! But I'll always be there to bring you back!"

"Why do you care so much what I do? I'm not your friend or anything." Roxas readied his Keyblade for a final offensive, but paused when he saw tears, not tattoos, on Axel's cheeks.

"We were friends, once. But these people keep coaxing you away from me, and you keep following them! Sora, too! Why does everyone follow them?!" Axel readied his chakrams and charged forward, as Roxas did the same. Just as they approached melee range, though, a beam of energy dropped down and forced them apart.

A swirl of data similar to what Roxas saw the first time the Keyblade appeared fell away to reveal a man in a red cloak and facial wrappings that obscured every detail except an amber left eye and a confident, tight-lipped smile. The instant Axel saw him, the red-haired man snarled. "So it was you!" He immediately flung a flame-wreathed chakram at the newcomer, but the enigma didn't even try to dodge. The weapon was repelled on a momentary barrier, and the man turned to address Roxas, ignoring Axel as he caught the rebounded chakram.

"Roxas, this man speaks nonsense!"

"Obviously, but..." Roxas trailed off as Axel yelled over the enigma's shoulder.

"Roxas, don't let him deceive you!"

"Roxas! He is the only deceiver here!"

"Roxas, come with me! Now!"

The two continued to try to influence Roxas, and their voices blurred into a nightmarish repetition in Roxas' over-stressed mind. "Roxas...Roxas...Roxas..."

Roxas just wanted things to be normal again. He wanted Hayner... Pence... Olette... _X..._ Who? No! Roxas straightened up as the red-garbed man fiddled with something under his cloak.

"Hayner! Pence! Olette!" Roxas called at the top of his lungs, and for once the world responded. A bright flash faded to reveal a screaming crowd, and Vivi toppled over in front of him. The Struggle timer stopped counting down at 0:13 as Roxas looked around in confusion.

 **VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

 _Now back to our regularly-scheduled program..._

The Struggle announcer was just as confused. "I'm not sure what just happened! But... The winner by knockout is Roxas!" Roxas was led off the stage in a daze, leaning against Olette and Hayner as he tried to figure out what just happened. His burns were gone, though he was sure he hadn't used a potion or healed them any other way. There were no signs of damage to the stage from the flame attacks, and no Corridors of Darkness (and there was another important term he shouldn't know). But he clearly remembered all of those crazy fights. How much was a dream, like the Station of Awakening, and how much was real?

Roxas gradually became aware that Olette was repeatedly calling his name. "Roxas, it's starting! Go take Setzer down a peg for me, okay? Those girls are getting really annoying."

"SETZEEERRR!" Yes, those fangirls were definitely annoying. Now Roxas had a clear goal again, at least for the next few minutes: to deflate the ego of the silver-haired champ in the Struggle finals.

"I'll get him, Olette. Just watch!" Roxas ran up to the stage.

"Play fair, now! You're at the top of the bracket!" The portly manager told the two fighters as he handed them their Struggle Swords.

"There's only room for one up here," Setzer remarked as he took his sword.

"Well, then... May the best man win!" The manager retreated before the announcer started counting down from ten.

Roxas was still wondering about the last two days, and he almost didn't hear when Setzer tried to strike a deal. "Hey, Rucksack. How about you throw the match for me? Let me win and I'll make it worth your while."

Setzer only let Roxas hear the offer, but Hayner was going to yell, "Roxas, focus!" anyway. Roxas snapped out of his reverie immediately and got into a fighting stance.

"Get real! And the name's 'Roxas!' You won't beat me with underhanded tricks like that!"

"Such a shame. I suppose you think you're in the 'right,' here. Well, whatever you think is right, you're wrong. And that is a big mistake." The silver-haired man smoothly slid into his own stance.

"If you said that a few minutes ago, I might have thought you meant something by it. But you're just throwing empty words around." Roxas ducked under a horizontal swing and attacked with an uppercut, but he was blocked. Cheating aside, Setzer did know his way around a Struggle Sword.

"What are you babbling about, Rucksack? No matter. I like gambling on tougher odds anyway." Setzer rushed forward with a series of stabs. Roxas used a Reversal to dodge, and Setzer almost didn't realize he'd missed until the fifth stab brought him to the edge of the platform. Thirty seconds into the match, neither combatant had landed a blow.

"That's Roxas!" The blond jumped in with greater speed than he'd used against Vivi or even Axel, having gained power from the dream but not being weighed down by a real weapon. Setzer crashed to the ground from Roxas' aerial strike, then skidded away from the combo finisher. Roxas gathered the thirty Orbs that scattered around while Setzer composed himself.

"This isn't what we agreed on, Rucksack." The soon-to-be-former champ glowered from across the arena. Twenty seconds left.

"I didn't agree to anything, Sucker." Roxas ran forward as Setzer flew at him with a spinning attack.

"My name is 'Setzer,' you ungrateful-!" Roxas used a Reversal to dodge the spinning charge, and used Setzer's momentum against him, knocking him all the way out of the arena. A bell rang three times, signaling the end of the match.

"Amazing! We have a winner, people! For the first ring-out in seven years of Struggles, I present to you, Roxas! Our new Struggle champion!" The announcer ran onstage and lifted Roxas' arm up high, passing him the Champion's belt. Roxas held the belt aloft with both hands as the crowd chanted his name. As he let his arms down, the manager handed Roxas the Four Crystal Trophy, which was a little heavier than it looked.

Setzer was about to walk away in disgrace, but turned and thrust a finger at the new champ. Whatever defiant speech he was about to give, though, was lost as the Usual Suspects ran past him to join Roxas onstage. "Roxas!" The boy was surrounded by cheering fans, good friends, and valuable trophies, and to top it all off, Setzer was left spinning and stumbling from having his thunder stolen. Yeah. Life was good.

 **VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

 _A/N: Sorry this update took a little longer than intended to get here. To make up for it, this chapter has almost 10,000 words! I heard that the last chapter felt a bit like filler, so I packed a bunch of epic battles into this one. Tell me what you think in reviews or PMs!_


	11. I Hope He Gets It

**Silver Linings**

 **Chapter 11: "I Hope He Gets It."**

 _A/N: The last chapter cut off after the epic boss fights were finished. This chapter will go into more plot-related stuff, and the high point of Roxas' stay in the simulated town is about to literally plummet._

 **VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

 _Twilight Town: Computer Room..._

Lambda re-entered the old mansion's hidden basement just in time for a beam of energy to emit from DiZ's transfer machine. Riku appeared in a swirl of data, still under his hood. "I'm back. Am I late?"

"No, I got here right when you did. Thanks for keeping that promise." Lambda smiled at him, removing her hood. "I guess now that the Organization has found us, there's not much point in the hoods right now."

"Just a second, Lambda. DiZ, I've waited, and now I want to know. What is it that you want? What do you get out of spinning these plans and manipulating everyone? Clearly, I get... Oh, no..."

"What happened?" Lambda asked, suddenly worried. Riku was in this to bring Sora back, but was this like what happened with Xion?

"I could tell you both what happened just now and what I want in the future. But first, could you tell me your true name?"

There was a slight pause, and then Riku removed his hood, revealing Ansem's face. "For as long as I need this power, my name...is Ansem."

Unexpectedly, DiZ laughed. "...It's an honor, Ansem! In any case, you want answers. Right now, everyone with ties to Sora will find their memories of him indistinct. It's a consequence of the restoration process reaching 50%, and it will clear up as the process continues."

"RESTORATION AT 55%."

"You see? As for myself, I have only one goal in all of my plans."

"And what is that?" Lambda asked absently, still a little shocked that Riku would give up his identity for the duty he'd chosen.

"Revenge. Organization XIII took away everything that was precious to me. I will destroy them. They have nothing in the wider World besides their own stolen existences, and taking that from them will satisfy me greatly." The Darkness DiZ had kept under his wrappings was on full display in his motives.

Lambda pointed out a detail DiZ had missed. "Revenge won't satisfy you. You should know that the road to Darkness is a slippery slope. After your plan brings down Organization XIII, what then? Those feelings won't just disappear. Eventually you'll apply them to more destructive scheming, and then more." Lambda glared. "You know, I figured you weren't as wise as you're trying to appear. Your assumptions about the Black Coats and the blindfold were wildly inaccurate. If you continue on this path, you'll become a monster far worse than Organization XIII."

DiZ laughed again. "You know, outsider...Lambda... You're absolutely correct. I'm a fool of the highest order. But I can't stop sliding down the road to Darkness here. Sora must be awakened again, at the minimum, and even then I'll have other problems I caused that I will need to fix. You have my word, for what it's worth, that I will find a place to stop my descent, and hold myself there to repay my debts."

Lambda unclenched a fist she didn't remember tightening. "That'll have to do for now. What's going on in the virtual Twilight Town?"

"Ansem" responded first. "The Nobodies are still interfering. That red-haired Organization member from the other day showed up and tried to take Roxas back. Roxas beat the absolutely gigantic Nobody they threw at him first, but DiZ had to step in to roll back the program, or Roxas might have lost the duel against Axel. And DiZ, you should probably know that Namine tried to tell Roxas the truth between the two fights."

"Blast! Why won't that girl do as she's told?"

"Probably because she feels sorry for Roxas," Lambda supplied.

DiZ scoffed. "She feels nothing. She's a Nobody, too."

Lambda's fist clenched again. "I disagree wholeheartedly. What do you have against Nobodies, anyway?"

DiZ mused for a second. "Perhaps I should give my reasoning some more thought. For now, it's enough for me that their existence is entirely unnatural, and that every one of them wants to destroy me. That should be enough reason for anyone."

"Ansem" added his own thoughts. "It wouldn't be enough reason for...him."

That gave DiZ pause. "...Quite. However, one could hardly call Sora a representative sample for human reactions. He's too much of a special case."

"Ansem" nodded, but did not agree. "He does seem to be the biggest exception to every rule, but he's also a role model for decent behavior. If other people don't act like him, _they're_ the flawed ones. Especially myself. I can't wait until I remember him fully."

"Indeed, and that is why I cannot dispose of Namine yet. However, I cannot hold her to her promise to restore him, either. Nobodies know nothing of honor or loyalty; look at Axel." DiZ played a video file neither traveler had seen recorded in person, in which Axel was the one who struck Vexen down from behind.

This didn't change Lambda's mind, but "Ansem" was the one who responded. "He's loyal to his friends, not the Organization. That's all. If you look at his actions today, can you honestly tell me he wasn't driven by grief?"

Before DiZ could laugh it off again, an alert came over the speakers. "RESTORATION AT 60%. WARNING! INTRUSION DETECTED!"

"Blast! Again?" DiZ quickly brought up the relevant viewpoint on screen, as Roxas fell off the Station Tower.

 **VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

 _Virtual Twilight Town: Station Tower..._

Roxas and the Usual Suspects sat in a line on the balcony halfway up the Station Tower, at the peak of the mountain Twilight Town was built on. The Usual Spot was homey, but nothing beat the view of the sunset from the Tower.

Roxas pulled out the Four Crystal Trophy, and snapped the red, green, and yellow crystals off of it one by one. He tossed the Red Crystal to Hayner, who snatched it out of the air. Olette caught the Green Crystal as it sailed right into her hands. Pence fumbled with the Yellow Crystal, but thankfully stopped it before either it or he could fall off the Tower. Roxas snapped off the Blue Crystal for himself, and held it up to the light of the setting sun as he set the rest of the Trophy aside. "As promised." The Usual Suspects sat like that for a while in silence, their crystals shining brilliantly in the sunset.

Olette broke the silence. "I've got a present for everyone, too! Dig in!" She passed sea salt ice cream bars to Hayner and Pence, who were sitting adjacent to her. However, just as Roxas stood up to go get his own bar, a strong breeze knocked him off balance. He didn't hear the screams of his friends as he fell off the Station Tower. He only saw what was waiting for him below. Namine stood there, a hand raised toward him as though she were above him and trying to pull him back up. Everything faded away to blackness but the two of them.

 **VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

 _The Black Space..._

Roxas vaguely wondered why he hadn't smashed into the ground yet as he fell through this empty black space. Namine was still there below him, hand still outstretched, but no matter how long he fell or how hard he reached for her, she didn't get any closer. Suddenly, he felt something brush his hand, though Namine was still too far away.

"Namine, what's happening to me?" Roxas called out.

A new voice replied; Namine remained as still as the world around Roxas during those pauses. "Who are you? And that's not my name. I'm Kairi."

A vision flashed through Roxas' head: the red-haired girl who was never completely shown in his dreams of Sora. A scene finally completed between her words and his reply. _Kai- threw her arms around a little black monster. There was a burst of Light that drove the Darkness away from the monster, and Sora was revealed, embracing the girl tightly. "Thank you, Kairi."_

It seemed Kairi had grown a little since that day. Her hair was longer, her voice was a little deeper, and she was taller, but she was clearly the same girl, standing here in the black space with her hand in Roxas' own. She seemed to be wearing a school uniform right now, and her entire body was outlined in Light, unlike Roxas and Namine. "Kairi... I know you. You're that girl he likes." Roxas confirmed it, in case Kairi wasn't sure yet. It seemed important that those two know how much they meant to each other, and playing matchmaker was far from the strangest thing Roxas had done today.

Kairi gasped. "You know him? Please, a name!"

"Um... I'm Roxas."

"Okay, Roxas. Can you tell me _his_ name, though?"

"Aw, you forgot my name? Thanks a lot, Kairi!" Sora appeared off to Roxas' other side in all his spiky-haired goofiness, outlined in Light like Kairi was. Roxas became aware of a cord of Light connecting himself by the chest to Namine, Namine to Kairi, Kairi to Sora, and Sora back to Roxas, like a figure-eight. So they were all connected after all!

Kairi looked pretty distraught, thinking Sora wouldn't forgive her for this. She should have known better than that by now, of course. Sora gave her his trademark wide grin, letting her know he was joking and that he still believed in her. "Okay, I guess I can give you a hint. Starts with an 'S!'" The black space began to brighten, until all Roxas could see was white.

Then, he woke up back in his bedroom, flinging himself upright while he thought he was still falling. "Oh... I'm dreaming. But which parts were the dream...?"

 **VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

 _Destiny Islands: Mainland North Beach..._

Kairi woke up on the ground, no longer feeling the headache that had cut through her before she collapsed. The pain was entirely gone, along with her uncertainty regarding her decisions. Selphie was still kneeling next to her, understandably worried. "I'm okay. Follow me; I've got something I need to do, and then we can go to the Island."

The two girls ran down to the beach where they could see the ocean between the mainland and the smaller island. Kairi approached the water and dug a bottle out of her tote bag. Inside was a neatly-rolled sheet of paper. Selphie asked, "What's that for?"

"A letter," Kairi replied. "I wrote it yesterday, to the boy I can't remember. I'm going to send it to him, and when he gets it, he'll come back. I also wrote that I'd go out there looking if I had to." Kairi placed the bottle gently in the waves, which carried it away.

Selphie sighed. "That's so romantic! I hope he gets it."

Kairi smiled as the bottle got farther and farther away. "He will. 'Starts with an S'. Right, Sora?"

"RESTORATION AT 70%."

 **VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

 _Twilight Town: Computer Room..._

DiZ smiled as the prompt appeared for 85% restoration. "At this point, Sora's recovery is assured. We won't have to keep the ruse up anymore." He entered a few commands. "Roxas will miss the trip to the beach, with so little time left for him. He should at least know his purpose before he rejoins with Sora."

Somehow, that didn't make Lambda or "Ansem" feel relieved at all.

 **VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

 _Virtual Twilight Town: The Usual Spot..._

Roxas ran down to the Usual Spot, not wanting to be late for the trip to the beach today. He'd always wanted to visit the beach, for as long as he could remember. He couldn't quite remember why, though. Maybe it was just that every summer should have a beach trip, and he'd never gotten one.

Roxas pushed the curtain aside, calling out, "Man, I could not sleep last night." It was true. He'd tried to fall back asleep, but he never managed it before the room shifted between his own and Sora's. One moment, he was himself staring at his blue lamp, and the next, he was Sora staring at a pirate-ship mobile.

 _"I just can't wait. Once we set sail, it'll be great!"_ Even that was Sora's memory of an earlier time Kairi said something. Roxas' thoughts weren't his own anymore, and it was freaking him out. Hopefully the beach trip would get his mind off these weird events, and things could go back to normal.

The Usual Spot was empty. The indentation of Pence wasn't visible in the couch, which would have meant the Usual Suspects had just left, so they hadn't arrived yet. And right on cue, Roxas' friends ran into the room, chatting with excited gestures. Roxas couldn't hear what they were saying, though. They didn't slow down or acknowledge Roxas' presence. He put his hands up to try and hold them off from running into him, but they passed right through him instead! Without showing any signs of noticing him, the Usual Gang gathered their things for the trip to the beach and ran outside, passing through his body again. "What's going on?" Roxas felt drawn to the back of the room, and looked down at the pile of photos of himself that were stolen two days ago. These were the photos that actually belonged to the Usual Suspects. Earlier, the main link between the images was that all of them had Roxas in them, but now that had changed. The new similarity between them was that Roxas was entirely absent. Seifer lay defeated on the ground, but there was no sign of the victor of that brawl. Hayner, Pence, and Olette waved at the camera from in front of the old mansion, but Hayner was waving, not making bunny ears over Roxas' head.

The whole world had forgotten him. Roxas bent over with grief. He stood there for a few seconds, then realized that he wasn't alone after all. This presence wasn't one he wanted to see, though. He growled and walked out into the side alley to see a group of those white creatures, this time a mixed group of the Dusks and some new, stronger enemies: "Assassins." Roxas could feel their connection to Axel. And sure enough, Number VIII appeared behind him.

"Look at what it's come to, Roxas. I've been given these icky orders to destroy you if you refuse to come back with me again." Axel waved a chakram in a dramatic show of woe-is-me.

Roxas tried to talk his way out of it."But we're...friends, right?"

"Sure, but I don't want to be turned into a Dusk for... Wait! You remember now? Gotta make sure, so... What's the boss man's name?"

Roxas froze up. Well, that backfired. Axel slumped over as that painful hope was finally extinguished. "Okay, I see how it is. Get him, boys!" Axel raised a barrier of hexagonal tiles to cut Roxas off from him, and his minions attacked.

Roxas silently called his Keyblade into his hand, and fought the creatures off again. The Dusks were pushovers, but the Assassins had more power. They flowed through solid ground like water, and tried to slash him from that protection. A lucky block knocked one of the creatures out of the ground, and Roxas was quick to cut it up. He almost managed to destroy it, but it rushed at him. Roxas instinctively knew it was using a suicide tactic to try and take him with it, but he caught it by the neck and flung it back into the ground. Not only did the explosion miss Roxas down there, it knocked the other two Assassins out of the ground. Roxas defeated them before either one could kamikaze.

The barrier separating Roxas from Axel fell, and Axel brandished his chakrams, but froze in his fighting stance. "What? Again?" Roxas had thought this pausing thing didn't affect the outsiders.

A voice echoed through the area over a wash of static noise. "Roxas, to the mansion! _He_ awaits you, and the time has come!"

And now Roxas knew he'd been a pawn the whole time. That was the voice of the man who'd stopped his duel with Axel yesterday. Clearly, the whole town was a fake, made to distract Roxas until he could meet Sora and...do what? Roxas had made the wrong choice following the bandaged enigma's script instead of leaving with Axel, and now that Axel was stopped, there was no choice but to see it through to the end. "...When I get there, I want answers." He rushed toward the mansion.

More creatures appeared to block his path, including smaller ones that tended to shapeshift into various weapons: "Creepers." None of them even slowed Roxas down. Each strike of the Keyblade hit home with all of Roxas' grief and rage behind it, and the monsters dissolved like they were never there. At last he reached the mansion, but found the gate to the courtyard was locked tight, as usual. A group of Dusks appeared behind him, trying to catch him now that he was cornered. "Don't call me and then lock me out..." Wait. Lock? What was Roxas worried about there? He was holding the legendary key that no lock could withstand! Mimicking Sora's motions from the dreams, Roxas pointed the Keyblade at the enormous padlock on the gate. A beam of Light shot forth and undid the lock, and the gate opened on its own after the padlock vanished. Roxas ran indoors, leaving the Dusks behind.

The Dusks tried to follow, but as Roxas went inside, the mystery man in the Black Coat appeared between the Dusks and the gate, holding a sword with a demonic motif. "I'll hold you off." The plan had reached the final critical stage, and both Riku (still going by "Ansem") and DiZ were inside the system to make sure it worked. Lambda was on the outside maintaining the server, but Namine's whereabouts were unknown...officially, at least. Anyone with two brain cells to rub together could figure out that she would be here, too. All the more reason to keep these Nobodies out of the mansion. Soul Eater ripped through legions of Dusks, but more kept appearing. If Nobodies only formed from strong hearts and wills, then the World must have been chock full of strong people before Ansem the "Seeker of Darkness" launched his campaign, if the Organization had this many pawns to throw away!

 **VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

 _Virtual Twilight Town: The White Room..._

Roxas ran upstairs, guided by a connection he couldn't see right now, but knew was there. He turned left and entered a front-facing room, where everything was white from the bed to the books to the table. Well, not quite everything. All over the walls, Namine's handiwork stared at him in pastel colors. Crayon drawings of various scenes Roxas could recognize from the dreams were everywhere he looked, but some were unfamiliar. Next to a crayon portrait of Sora, Donald, and Goofy (who were always together, no matter what artistic medium was used to see them) was a portrait of what could only be himself and Axel, both wearing Black Coats. Roxas became aware of a splitting headache as he moved on to the next image, a picture of himself walking through a dark city under the light of a heart-shaped moon. The headache intensified, and Roxas groaned under the pain. Another vision appeared, like the ones of Sora. The difference was that Roxas was finally the subject of the scene. _A circle of high thrones in a room even whiter than this, with each chair filled with a Black Coat. On the shortest throne sat Roxas himself._ The headache faded, but Roxas knew the hurting had barely begun. He turned toward the table in the middle of the White Room, and was not at all surprised to find Namine sitting there. Roxas spoke up, enlightened with at least part of the other side of the puzzle. "Organization XIII... They're a bad group, right?"

Namine shrugged. "Bad or good, I don't know. They're a group of incomplete people who wish to be whole. To that end, they're desperately searching for something called Kingdom Hearts."

Roxas was interested in this info, really he was, but he couldn't help but laugh at his whole ridiculous situation. Namine looked up, not changing her usual sad smile. "Funny?"

Roxas shook his head. "Sorry, it's just that... I think I've been running from the question I really want to ask. What's going to happen to me now? Nothing else really matters anymore."

"Well, you know Sora, right?" Namine opened a sketchbook she carried with her, and revealed a picture of Sora and Roxas standing side by side, holding hands. "About a month ago, some...things happened, and I was forced to break the chain of memories inside Sora's heart. Since then, I've been trying to put them back exactly the way they were. It's taken me a long time, but I'm almost done now. There's only one thing Sora needs now, and then he'll awaken. For that to happen, he needs you."

"But why me? What makes me so special? Is it the Keyblade?"

"You hold half of who he is. Those dreams you've been having were his memories, and he needs them to awaken. You two are connected, Roxas. You saw it before, right?"

"Yes, but I'm also connected to you. What will happen to me...to us...if I give these memories back to Sora?"

"You will-" Namine suddenly cut off and stopped moving. As Roxas watched, she dissolved into tiny particles and disappeared.

"No! Namine!" Roxas didn't stop to analyze why Namine's disappearance made him so frantic. She was important to him. They were connected. Did it really matter why?

A portal of Darkness appeared in the corner, and the bandaged man appeared from it. "It's about time we properly met, Roxas."

"Where did you take Namine?"

"That's irrelevant. Her part is finished."

The sight of this jerk made Roxas so mad! "Why are you doing all this? I want to know. I have a _right_ to know."

"A Nobody _doesn't_ have a right to know. Nor does it even have a right to _be._ "

"But what is a Nobody, anyway? What makes me so much less than you?"

Suddenly, a burst of Darkness heralded the other mystery man's appearance. "DiZ, we're out of time. Too many Nobodies!"

Another Dark Corridor appeared then, and Namine stepped out of it. The small room started to feel crowded with so many important and powerful people in it. "Roxas! Nobodies like us are only half a person. When you meet Sora, you won't disappear! You'll be whole!"

"No further outbursts!" DiZ stalked over to Namine and grabbed her.

Namine struggled against DiZ's grip, and managed to get her mouth free long enough to make one final vow. "Roxas, we will meet again, and then we can talk about everything! I may not know it's you, and you may not know it's me. But we _will_ meet again. I promise!" As she spoke, DiZ dragged her backwards into the Dark Corridor, and the portal vanished as she finished, taking the two of them with it.

"Namine!" Roxas rushed to the spot, but the remaining man blocked his path with his sword. "Let me go!"

"If you want to meet her again, take that..." The man pointed at Namine's sketchbook, lying discarded on the table, "...and use it to go further in." The man vanished.

Roxas took the sketchbook with him as he left the room and crossed the mansion to the other side. The foyer was thick with Nobodies, but Roxas cut through them easily and made it to a small study. There was a table in the middle of the room with a golden design drawn on the wood, and the crayon used to draw it lay beside it. Roxas looked at the sketchbook he held, and saw the same design, but the drawing on the table had one missing element. Inside the complicated diagram were three circles arranged in an upside-down triangle, and in each circle was an important symbol. The top two circles held the emblems of the Heartless Sora fought and the Nobodies who sought Roxas, and the bottom circle should have had a crown icon. Roxas picked up the crayon and completed the table's design.

He admired his handiwork for a moment, and almost missed the glow spreading across the floor. He barely got off that section before the floor and the whole table disappeared, revealing a staircase down to a very different part of the house. Blue metal walls and broken pipes were the decor of choice in this secret part of the mansion, and a door at the bottom of the stairs slid open as Roxas approached. He pressed onward.

 **VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

 _Twilight Town: Computer Room..._

DiZ appeared from the transfer device, followed shortly by Riku (no matter what Riku said, Lambda was not going to refer to him as "Ansem" in her head anymore). Lambda greeted them with a grim look. "I couldn't keep them out. How are things looking in there?"

"Roxas is well aware of the ruse by now, but he's headed for Sora as we speak," Riku replied.

DiZ, however, looked concerned. "Where did Namine go? I had her in my grasp only seconds ago!"

"The Darkness tends to split people up," Riku recalled. "Does it matter? You said yourself that you don't need her anymore."

"I don't. She did a splendid job with Sora, but it's high time she disappeared. She hijacked the data herself to visit Roxas on two occasions now, which makes her dangerous. Take care of it, Ansem."

Lambda turned to Riku, worried, but she was relieved when he replied. "...We'll see." The words were just as annoyingly vague as DiZ liked being, and could go either way, but Lambda _knew_ Riku had winked at her under that hood. She didn't really see him do it, but she could tell anyway. She supposed she was getting better at reading and displaying emotion. "Come on, Lambda. We've got some Nobodies to meet." The pair vanished through another Dark Corridor, and reappeared in the courtyard outside.

"They had better be more obedient than Namine," DiZ muttered. "For now, let's give Roxas his old personality back, to throw off his pursuers..." A few more keystrokes were pressed, and Roxas' body, still slumped on the transfer pad as it had been for the last three days, was digitized and sucked into the system.

 **VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

 _Virtual Twilight Town: Computer Room..._

Roxas walked through the sliding door, and wound up in a high-tech computer lab. He looked at the glowing terminal displaying a progress bar: "RESTORATION AT 99.999% (APPROXIMATE VALUE)." Sora was almost awake, then. That last bit he needed... Should Roxas really give it back?

In the corner next to the terminal was a circular platform under a strange device. Roxas had no clue what the device was for, but looking at it caused his headache to return in full force. He clutched his skull as his own memories pounded back into him, along with a frightening amount of emotional trauma.

 **VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

 _The tangled chain of memories..._

Scenes flashed through Roxas' head at breakneck speed.

 _"Your mind's made up?"_

 _"Why did Xemnas need the Keyblade from me? I have to know."_

 _"You can't turn on the Organization!"_

 _The scene jumps to Riku lying on the ground..._

 _"Why? Why won't you come back with us?"_

 _"Shut up!"_

 _Flashes of Light and Darkness..._

 _"Come on, Sora! I thought you were stronger than that!"_

 _"Get real! Look which one of us is winning!"_

 _"So it's true. You really are his Nobody. I guess DiZ was right after all."_

 _"What are you talking about?! I am ME! Nobody else!"_

 _Oathkeeper and Oblivion, tearing through Riku's defenses..._

 _Lambda, crushed without effort by Roxas' Light..._

 _Riku, transfigured by the overwhelming Darkness..._

 _"I have accepted it."_

 _Darkness... Choking... Sleep._

 **VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

 _Virtual Twilight Town: Computer Room..._

Roxas finally released his skull. The headache wasn't gone; it had just moved to take up residence in his chest. All those images, and none of them had really told him where all this heartache came from. He was still missing part of his last conversation with Axel, but he knew the hurt started before that. This wasn't just rage at the unfairness of being left in the dark while multiple plans were woven into a prison around him. This was grief from the loss of a dear friend. It only hurt more that Roxas couldn't remember that friend's face or name, or any details at all. All that came to mind was a Black Coat, so it was probably someone he'd known before quitting the Organization. Had he left because that person was gone? There were still so many questions, and there never seemed to be enough answers.

Frustration built up in Roxas until he finally summoned his Keyblade (no, Sora's Keyblade). He smashed the computer, blindly taking out his frustrations on the blameless inanimate object. This wasn't even really the computer DiZ had used to send Roxas here; it was just an image on that computer. Roxas was still unsatisfied, but exhaustion forced him to stop swinging and catch his breath. By now the computer was smashed beyond all repair. As he stood up again, a door slid open behind him for no visible reason. It was still obvious who'd done it, though. Roxas stubbornly continued on the path, holding onto the rage because it was all he had left that was really his.

The next room was apparently empty, save for a globe of glowing green energy. It was Darkness mixed with the power of Nothing that Twilight Thorn had used against Roxas, and out from it stepped Axel. As soon as Roxas got a good look at his face, the rest of that memory surfaced painlessly.

 _"You get on their bad side and they'll destroy you! I should know; I carried out that system myself."_

 _Looking back, Roxas could hear the hidden message: "Don't make me kill you, too. I can't take it anymore."_

 _But what Roxas had actually said back then: "No one would miss me."_

 _"That's not true...! ...I would."_

Back in the present, Roxas' expression softened from full-on killing rage to melancholy. "Axel..."

"So you really do remember me this time?" Axel called out in a taunting voice. "I'm SO FLATTERED!" Axel's own grief and rage poured out in his words, and a ring of flames responded, cutting them off from any outside interference and blocking Roxas' path forward. "Well, you're too late! I'm going to take you down here!" Axel summoned his chakrams, then looked up at Roxas with a manic grin.

Roxas was taken aback for a moment. Sure, he recognized these emotions, and he could see why Axel would feel that way, but something was wrong... Oh. "Axel... I guess you gave up on your promise. You said you'd always be there to bring me...us back."

"Us? Who else would I have been talking about? But it doesn't matter now. I can't fight this destiny that keeps dragging you away. Killing you now would be kinder than letting you go on hurting."

Roxas prepared for battle, still disgusted at that conclusion. "That's not the Axel I know. He would have been a good enough friend to help heal the hurt, not kill it. I've got a better idea. If you can beat me, I'll go back with you. If I win, you go away and meet me with Sora later."

Axel barked out a laugh. "You're in no position to bargain, Roxas! Got it memorized? You were no match for me yesterday. What's changed since then?"

"More than you think." Roxas reached his arms across himself, and pulled out Oathkeeper in his left and Oblivion in his right. He twirled them over his head, clashed them together to create a spray of sparks, and settled into his true combat stance, not that pale imitation of Sora's.

"Two?!" Oh, right. Axel had never seen Roxas' real power. Well, this should enlighten him.

"Ready, Axel?" Roxas asked, not charging in just yet.

"Come here; I'll make it all stop! Burn, baby!" Axel threw his chakrams at the ground, washing the whole area in a shockwave that left behind a field of burning lava! Roxas hopped from one foot to the other as the lava overheated his shoes, and shrouded himself in Light to mitigate the damage. There wasn't much he could do about the thick smoke that filled the arena, fogging his vision and choking his lungs. He decided to end this quickly. He rushed at Axel, ducking under a chakram swing and blocking a thrown ring with Oathkeeper. Before Axel could react, Oblivion came around, heralding a long string of dual-wielding strikes that knocked the redhead into the air. Roxas _flew_ up into the air to chase him and continue the combo, finishing by kicking Number VIII straight down to the ground. The boy concentrated and released a blast of Light centered on the spot where Axel fell, dispelling the lava field and blasting Axel out beyond the ring of fire.

Axel wasn't finished yet. If anything, being flung through the flames had healed him enough to continue. He charged back into the fight from a different direction, pillars of fire trailing behind him, but Roxas still dodged and threw Oathkeeper at him for more damage. Axel roared in rage and used a Limit Break, throwing his chakrams repeatedly to create explosions and flame pillars all around the arena, trying to catch Roxas as he dodged. Instead, Roxas just used his favorite move, Reversal, and this time Axel wasn't prepared for it. Both Keyblades cut the fire master's back in an X pattern, knocking him down to roll to the edge of the ring. Finally, the flames died down and vanished, and the smoke began to clear.

"Cough, cough... I guess you won, Roxas. You and Sora really are similar. Go on back to him; I'll get you back sometime later."

Roxas calmed down and dismissed his Keyblades. In his mind's eye, a happier scene was replaying over and over. Axel, himself, and another person... A girl, perhaps? He couldn't see her clearly in his periphery, but he could tell that this had never happened. It should have, he knew. Once upon a time, this was all Roxas ever wanted: to laugh and eat sea salt ice cream with Axel and Xi-...he'd remember everything about her one day. They were his best friends, and he knew that they'd be able to meet again, someday soon. Maybe Namine could join them, too. "Then that's a promise."

"See you again, in the next life!" Axel told him, as he began to vanish in a cloud of Darkness.

This wasn't the way Nobodies usually faded when they were eliminated, Roxas knew, so he wasn't too worried. "Yeah! I'll be waiting!" Roxas smiled.

Axel chuckled sadly. "What a gullible zombie... Just because you have a next life..." He vanished entirely before he could say any more.

"I might be the zombie, but I won't let you get there late this time, Axel." Roxas smiled at the green orb that remained in the corner of the room, but he knew he couldn't go through that way. Sora was closer than ever.

The next door led to a hallway lined with glass pods. Most of them were empty, darkened, and in various states of disrepair. Two of them, however, were pristine and active, and currently held the sleeping forms of two familiar faces. "Donald... Goofy? I must be getting close. You won't be sleeping much longer, one way or another." Roxas pressed onward to the final room.

 **VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

 _Twilight Town: The Old Mansion..._

Riku and Lambda appeared in the courtyard, just as Axel and Namine came through separate Dark Corridors of their own. "I figured you'd both be here," Riku called.

Axel was torn to shreds after his fight with Roxas, but he glared at Riku murderously. "I'm not going to forgive you people for putting Roxas through that. You either, Namine. I _will_ bring him back."

"I hope you do." Riku nodded, still wearing his hood. "For now, though, Sora needs to wake up. He'll be fine with you getting Roxas back, but I won't let you get him now. In fact, I was supposed to eliminate both of you if I found you here..."

Namine gasped, but relaxed when Riku continued. "...So it's a good thing I never found you. Find your own paths, and we'll act like this meeting never happened. After all, I've learned that the roads of Light and Darkness are connected somewhere." Namine gratefully nodded and went back through the Dark Corridor. After a final glare, just for good measure, Axel did the same through his own.

"Nice job handling that, Riku," Lambda complimented.

"Sure thing, but call me-"

Lambda interrupted him. "No, I will not call you 'Ansem.' Did you really expect me to give up on you like that? The power you're using right now is still your own. In fact, I'd say Ansem himself is just another facet of your heart now. And if he doesn't like it, I'll smash him again for you."

"Thanks, Lambda. I hope you're right. I don't want to know what Mickey would think, though..."

If only talking about the King made him appear right away like this every time! "Lambda! Riku! You're safe!"

"...Only one way to find out?" Lambda asked Riku while she turned to face Mickey.

"I guess so," Riku replied in Ansem's voice, then removed his hood.

Mickey didn't miss a beat. He leaped backwards with multiple backflips, and landed with the Kingdom Key D in his fighting stance. Riku just smiled sadly. "Is that really you, Ansem?" Mickey asked after a moment in which no one moved.

"No, Mickey. It's me, Riku. The Darkness doesn't mess around when it comes to consequences, huh?" Riku used his real voice now. "To use the Power of Darkness to its fullest, I had to become Ansem myself. I couldn't have brought Roxas in with anything less than full power. Sora will wake up in a few moments, but I need you to promise me you won't tell him what happened to me. I don't want to be found like this. Even though this is Sora we're talking about, what I'm really afraid of is him seeing me like this and calling the Keyblade to destroy me like you were going to just now. That's been my only real fear, ever since fighting Zexion in Castle Oblivion. Aside from losing Lambda, of course," Riku nodded to the girl in question, "but she was there when it happened. I'm really grateful you saw through me like that, Lambda."

"Don't mention it." Lambda moved over to finally give Riku that kiss she'd been holding on to for two days now. He had to bend down to reach her, but the emotions inspired by the act were just as strong as they'd been back at the Station Plaza a week ago. Better, actually, because Lambda wasn't dealing with brain freeze.

"Aw, you two really do make a great couple! I've got to get back to sealing up those Time Breaks for now; I just caught one that opened in the woods."

"Wait, Mickey!" Riku called. "Before you go, hold on to this to give to Sora, okay?" Riku walked over and pressed a blue crystal into Mickey's hand. "Someone needs to remember Roxas. Give this to Sora and send him off to Yen Sid's place, okay? That should be enough to get him started."

Mickey closed his glove around the memento of a part of Sora that he'd never met. "I promise, Riku. All of it. Stay strong, okay?"

"That was the plan. I promise, too." Riku knelt down, and shook hands with Mickey once more. Mickey turned and dashed back into the woods.

Lambda walked over. "We should go. Before I got Mickey working on the Time Breaks, he was fixing problems being caused by the Heartless all over the place. We should work on that, and stay a few steps ahead of Sora until we can meet him again."

"Sounds like a plan, Lambda! Let's go looking for trouble, then." Riku formed a Dark Corridor, and the pair walked through hand in hand.

 **VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

 _Virtual Twilight Town: Sora's Pod Room..._

Roxas entered a room colored so uniformly white that the walls, floor, and ceiling were indistinguishable. In the center of the room was a stasis pod that was three times larger than the ones in the hallway. Before Roxas could get a closer look, however, DiZ appeared again. "At last, the Keyblade's chosen one appears."

"Who are you talking to? Me? Or Sora?" Roxas growled.

"To half of Sora, of course. You reside in Darkness. What I need is someone who can move about the Realm of Light...and destroy Organization XIII."

DiZ made Roxas angrier every time he opened his mouth. "Who are you, anyway?"

"I am a servant of the World. The wider World, mind you, not just this tiny place. Heh, heh... And if I'm a servant, you should consider yourself a tool, at best."

"Was that..." Roxas' rage boiled over. "Was that supposed to be a joke?!" He ripped the Keyblade out of thin air and rushed forward. "Because I'm not laughing!" He cut diagonally right through DiZ, but caused no harm. Where the Keyblade had passed through, DiZ's image was scrambled and data rapidly updated, but then it rearranged itself.

"My apologies. This is only a data-based projection. I'm not actually here for you to destroy."

Roxas screamed wordlessly at the ceiling and cut through the hologram over and over. He never made any progress, but as he finally ran out of strength and brought the Keyblade down for the last time, DiZ teleported closer to the pod. Looking down and panting heavily, Roxas realized that he had summoned the Kingdom Key, not his own Keyblades. He was too close to Sora, and everything seemed to waver, though it was really himself that was unstable while Sora's heart drew him in.

"Come, over here." DiZ called over, but Roxas didn't move yet.

"I hate you so much!" Roxas growled.

"You should share some of that hatred with Sora. He's far too nice for his own good."

And that was Roxas' last remaining berserk trigger. "No! My heart belongs to me!" He made one final rush and cut through the hologram again, but DiZ vanished, unharmed. Roxas found himself directly in front of Sora's pod, which flashed along several seams and opened up in three layers, each unfolding like a flower in the morning. Sora floated inside, calmly asleep. Seeing his face at last, Roxas' rage fell away, leaving him numb. He was always dragged into these things before he was ready. It was so much easier to just accept it, though. "Sora... You're lucky. It looks like my summer vacation is...over." Roxas stepped forward, and took his place in Sora's heart at last.

 **VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

 _Twilight Town: Sora's Pod Room..._

"Sora!" Through the murkiness of his own mind, Sora could make out the shape of a blond boy wearing white, walking towards him and reaching out a hand.

"Who's there?" Sora mumbled, but still reached back. His hand met the stranger's, and Light flooded in as they awoke together.

 **VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

 _Author's notes: I've got most of the scenes in my head for the final battle of_ Kingdom Hearts II _by now. I've been planning the fight with Xemnas and a following confrontation with Relius and Nu since sometime around Chapter 3 of this story, so as with the Lexaeus fight from_ Dark Clouds, _expect it to be some of my best work yet. However, that's a long way off still. We're just now properly entering KH2's real plot after the long intro sequence, which apparently only needed to be half as long as it was in the game, if this is anything to go by. From here on in, Riku and Lambda will handle leftover problems from_ Days _, and Sora's party will continue on with KH2. Meanwhile, Time Breaks will continue popping up, courtesy of Relius Clover. Each chapter will probably have some scenes from both groups, and most should have some snippets from the Azure Timeline. Eventually, our heroes in the Realm of Light will meet up again, but while they're separated, would any of you like to see some BlazBlue characters show up again? I'm thinking I'll have another crossing while Sora's in Olympus Coliseum hunting Demyx for the Olympus Stone, at minimum. I'd also like to have someone meet Riku and Lambda elsewhere, but their path is nowhere near as well defined yet, so feel free to suggest worlds (from_ Days _or otherwise) for the main couple to visit, too! I'd be happy to pass PMs back and forth!_


	12. The End Has Come!

**Silver Linings**

 **Chapter 12: "The End Has Come!"**

 _A/N: Kingdom Hearts II's plot is in full swing now! From here on in, I hope to include at least one crossover character for Riku's or Sora's plot in every world, starting here in Neverland with you know who! He is the white void. He is the cold steel. He is the just sword! With awesome intro spiel in hand shall he reap the sins of these worlds and return all to nothing! He is HAKUMEN! Title Drop! But first, a quick update on Sora's side of the story..._

 _It's a bit late to explain it now, but I'm operating on the assumption that Lambda dismisses Murakumo when she's not in combat, which is why she needs to summon it so many times. It could be explained by the strain a Nox Nyctores places on the wielder. A Nox can tear a person's mind apart unless they're the best of the best at Armagus; look at Yukianesa's effect on Jin._

 **VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

 _Sora's Pod Room..._

"Sora!" Donald's voice pierced Sora's consciousness, causing him to shift in his sleep. Light knows Sora wouldn't have made it this far without Donald's magic abilities and training in spellcraft, but waking up to that voice everyday...

"Sora! Wake up!" Okay, if Goofy's already up, then Sora had overslept. He cracked his eyes open for the first time in what felt like far too long, but everything around him was cloudy and a bit cold. Suddenly, a bright light pierced into the mist, and the clouds seeped out of the pod Sora found himself in. The outer shell opened like a giant flower, and Sora took a second to process what he was seeing. White...white...blue...green...funny faces... Wait!

On seeing his friends Donald and Goofy, Sora snapped awake. "Donald! Goofy!" He felt ridiculously happy to see them. Of course, there was no chance he'd ever be rid of them, but something had him scared in the back of his heart until he got a chance to jump out of the pod and land on his friends in a flying glomp. This could be considered payback for all those times they'd stood on his shoulders and all of them had fallen down, but no one minded. Instead, they hopped around in circles for a bit to get the relief and goofiness out of their system enough to figure out where in the worlds they'd ended up.

"Okay, so we defeated Ansem... Restored peace to the World... Found Kairi... I think that's right so far?" Sora asked Jiminy Cricket, who stepped out of Sora's hood onto his shoulder.

"I think we found Kairi first, but yep, that sounds about right," Jiminy confirmed.

"Oh yeah! And then we went to look for Riku and the King. Did we ever find them?"

"I don't think we did, but that was a good nap!" Jiminy replied while stretching his little cricket arms.

"When do you think we went to sleep?" Goofy asked.

"Uh..." All four were at a loss on that point.

It was then that Donald Duck had a rare, logical idea. "What does your Journal say, Jiminy?"

"Oh, that's right! I wrote everything down right in this little book... WHAT?" Jiminy opened his Journal to the last page he dog-eared, but it was blank. In fact, every page was blank, except for the very first page, which contained only two words: _Thank Namine._ "There's only one sentence! 'Thank Namine.' I wonder who that is?" Jiminy pondered aloud, much to Donald's displeasure.

"Some Journal that is!" Donald huffed.

Jiminy hurried to save face. "This is really strange. What do you say we find out where we are?"

The subject was successfully diverted, and the group ran out the only obvious exit. Oddly enough, when Sora and friends got outside the quaint, abandoned mansion, they found it difficult to remember the route they took to leave. Goofy guessed that the mansion was messing with their memories, and voted not to go back in. Sora had a feeling there was more to it, but Donald was already running away from a possibly haunted house, so the rest had to follow without any further discussion.

 **VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

 _Twilight Town: The Usual Spot..._

The group caught up to Donald as they entered a side alley in a large town that none of them had seen before, or so it seemed. "Y'know, I think I've been to this town," Sora mused as they headed towards an interesting-looking dead end with a curtain over it.

"Really? What's it called?" Donald asked, having finally calmed down from earlier.

"...I dunno. Did I imagine it?" Donald sighed. Sora was well-known to be a space case sometimes.

"Hello!" Goofy called to a group of teenagers sitting on secondhand furniture in the curtained area.

"Who are you people?" A brownish-blond kid wearing camouflage-print pants and a black T-shirt with a skull logo asked tersely.

"Oh, nothing. We're just passing through, and I was wondering what was back here," Sora made up on the fly. Everyone they'd met so far had bought the line for at least a while, and these kids were no different.

"Well, now you know. This is our spot." Hayner impatiently explained.

The girl in the group spoke up next with a much friendlier demeanor. "Welcome to Twilight Town! It's nice to meet you. My name's Olette, this is Pence," Olette pointed out the chubby guy on the couch, "...and the super-friendly one is Hayner. Don't worry, he just likes playing tough. We call ourselves the Usual Suspects! What are your names?" Hayner sputtered for a bit while the introductions continued.

"I'm Sora!"

"Donald Duck!"

"The name's Goofy! Nice to meetcha!"

On hearing this, Olette and Pence shared a look. "Sora, Donald, Goofy... We just met someone who was looking for you."

"Really? Who was it?" Sora asked, surprised that they already had a lead on where to go next. Usually finding info took a lot more running around.

"He had this black coat on, so I couldn't really see his face," Pence began, "but he had these...big, round ears." He traced big circles around his head with his fingers to demonstrate, and the travelers instantly knew who he was talking about.

"King Mickey!" They exclaimed all at once.

Sora asked, "Where'd you see him?"

"At the station," Pence replied. "You going there now? It's at the top of the town. Just keep going up; you can't miss Station Tower."

"Okay, and thanks a lot!" Sora waved to the Usual Suspects on his way back through the curtain, and the three teens looked at each other for a second.

"Did you feel that?" Pence asked.

"Yeah, it was like my heart was being squeezed," Olette noted.

"Who is he, and why don't I want him to leave?" Hayner wondered, before setting the plan of action. "Let's catch up to him at the Station Plaza and see him off, at least. I know I'll regret it if we don't."

For once, there was no disagreement about Hayner's plan.

 **VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

 _Neverland: Islands..._

Riku and Lambda stepped out of the Dark Corridor on a tiny, gray rock in the middle of a vast, blue ocean. "Ah, shoot. I forgot about that," Riku grumbled.

"You mean the water?" Lambda asked.

"Yeah. Sure, you can fly over it, and I guess I can fly in this form, too. I'm going to need some practice with it, though, or we're not going anywhere." Riku concentrated for a second, then floated an inch or two off the ground as Ansem had in their battles. He hovered over the open sea, sighing in relief as he didn't plummet to the sea floor immediately. "I can tell there's some sort of Darkness-related trap over that way," he called back to Lambda, pointing to the west. "Can you get a fix on it?"

"Affirmative," Lambda responded. Summoning Murakumo, she joined Riku over the sea and led him to another small island, where two brightly-colored figures were squatting over a pile of some sort.

"Blast! Another fake! All these treasure maps, and none of them seem to lead to the real treasure!" Captain Hook whined, his voice audible at a very long distance.

Riku remembered Hook's first mate, a portly, red-nosed man by the name of Smee. His nasal tone of voice was just as ridiculous as his name, but he did have better common sense than the Captain. For example: "I'm just worried about findin' another trap, Cap'n. Every time we dig up a chest full of junk like this, the Heartless pop out of nowhere!"

Right on cue, a bunch of Air Pirate and Air Soldier Heartless appeared. Captain Hook and Smee immediately jumped into their dinghy and sailed back to the large pirate ship anchored nearby. The Heartless ignored them, turning right for Riku and Lambda. Riku was new to aerial combat, but he had to learn soon, so he told Lambda to hang back for a moment. He flashed forward like he had against Roxas, his sheer speed comparable to a teleport. Soul Eater sliced through the Heartless easily enough, and Riku found his old combo moves still worked. The Air Soldiers were stronger than the same breed found in Twilight Town, but paled in comparison to the Neoshadows from the World That Never Was. Riku had no trouble with the Neoshadows back then, so it was no surprise that the Heartless stood no chance now. "Whenever I want a challenge to train against, they always turn out to be so weak..." Riku muttered as he floated back to Lambda. "I would have liked to find a better way to take advantage of that speed, but they popped too quickly. Let's check out that chest; someone left it there on purpose, I'm sure."

The chest was still there, filled with bits of wood and rusty iron. The important part wasn't the contents of the chest, but the cloudy aura of Darkness surrounding it. Lambda wondered, "How did Hook miss this aura? Sure, he's as dumb as toast, but this doesn't feel normal. He should have noticed it just because it's different from the usual Darkness he wears like perfume."

"Stinky perfume." Riku added, then stilled. Someone was coming.

"Aw, this batch got away! Oh, well. Time to check on the next one! That Captain Hook is so easy to yank around!" A big, fancy-armored...thing appeared in a puff of smoke, looking down at the not-treasure chest.

"Who are you?" The large creature's ears perked up when he heard Lambda, and he froze in the act of turning away.

"You really wanna know? I'm the mighty Pete, and I'm busy, see?" Pete turned around, then jumped a little at the intimidating appearance of what looked like "that Ansem fella" and a lady with way too many swords floating over the sea. "What the...? I thought the brat took care of you! Thanks to you and those punks, I've gotta find some way to bring back Maleficent before I can give her the army of Heartless I've been rounding up! Get lost!"

"Well, that basically confirms you're up to no good." Riku noted in his own voice. "Though I don't remember you in Maleficent's evil club, I can't really let you try to bring her back."

"Well, duh! I was on Heartless-makin' duty the whole time, so Maleficent had to dupe that Riku punk into kidnapping Princesses instead of asking yours truly! Wait a minute... Now I know where I heard that voice before!"

"Oh? Where was that?" Riku pushed.

"I heard it right before I left! Maleficent found some kid washed up in the Rising Falls, and she sent me away before the kid noticed me there. She probably thought I'd get in the way of her sweet-talking. Can't say I blame her, but... Hey! That means... YOU'RE Riku?!"

"Wow, you're smarter than you look," Lambda said as she took up position next to Riku. "Of course, Riku's a lot stronger than he was then, and if you want to fight him for beating Maleficent, you'll have to go through me."

 **VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

 _Pete vs. Team Riku: Round 1! Fight!_

"Eh, no biggie! Super special move: Pete's Bouncy Battle Arena!" Pete pulled a curtain down over the camera ( _WHAT?!_ ), and when the scene was visible again, the combatants were standing on an inflatable, open-topped castle of purple rubber, like an attraction children might bounce around in at a festival. "Pretty good, huh? Now catch this!" Pete rolled a ball-shaped bomb at Riku, but the dark warrior moved behind the enemy in a flash, and the bomb's homing pattern took it right back to Pete's feet. "Oh nonono OW-OW-OW!" Pete jumped into the air after the explosion, patting out the fire on his butt, but the castle seemed to take no damage.

"Summoning." Lambda hadn't attacked yet because the arena seemed to be hampering any attempts to levitate at more than a "walking-alternative" altitude. If the castle popped, all three of them would likely drown, but that didn't seem to be a concern anymore after the arena withstood that explosion. Pete took multiple hits from Sword Summoner EX, then got slammed down by Crescent Saber. However, he used the bounciness of the castle to spring back up and jump higher into the air.

Pete jumped so high, in fact, that he didn't seem to come down. Lambda noticed an electric charge in the air around her, and barely managed to tackle Riku out of a yellow ring that had appeared on the ground before Directed Thundaga bolts fell in that area. The bolts stopped after a moment, but then the ring moved to chase the heroes around. They dodged in two different directions, confusing Pete long enough that a second storm struck the empty space between them before he could choose who to chase. Pete fell back down as the circle vanished, creating a shockwave. Riku and Lambda jumped over the wave, but Riku stumbled as the inflatable arena heaved up and down afterward.

"I have to admit," Riku huffed, "you're full of surprises." Pete grinned smugly at the praise, but Riku continued talking. "But you can't really expect to beat me with party tricks like those. _Zantetsuken!_ " Pete barely had time to widen his eyes before Riku appeared behind him, having cut right through Maleficent's minion in the blink of an eye. "...Close enough." The attack wasn't instantly fatal like it had been against Ansem, but Pete was still heavily wounded from the slice. Or at least, that was how Lambda interpreted the crossed white bandages that appeared where Riku cut through. Pete stumbled back a bit.

"Argh! I'll get you nitwits next time!" Pete pulled a curtain over the fourth wall again, and when the scene reappeared, Riku and Lambda were standing on a the rocky shore of a different island a long distance from where they'd been before. This comparatively large island had a cave on it that looked like a human skull from the outside, hence the name Skull Rock.

 **VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

 _Neverland: Skull Rock..._

"That was probably the strangest villain I've ever fought, and that's saying something," Riku finally managed to say.

"I can just tell that what he just did will never make any sense to me," Lambda decided, "but at least we know who to blame for the Heartless traps on this world. Pete's probably got his hands, or paws, or whatever he is, into the affairs of a lot of worlds by now. We'll have to be on the lookout for his handiwork." Suddenly, Lambda stilled, sensing a familiar anomaly from inside the cave. "We've got more immediate problems, Riku. A Time Break just opened in the cave!"

"Let's go, Lambda!" The pair dashed into the cave.

 **VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

 _Twilight Town: Station Plaza..._

Sora and company followed Olette's instructions to reach the Station Plaza as quickly as possible. They'd been looking for King Mickey for a whole adventure now, and they couldn't risk being too late to catch up to him now.

The view from the base of the Station Tower was certainly impressive. A railing circled the plaza, letting people gaze down the mountain and see all of Twilight Town arrayed below them. An orange train car chugged along elevated tracks in the distance at a leisurely pace. Sora looked around the plaza for any signs of King Mickey, but the first things that seemed out of place were a trio of skinny creatures in white jumpsuits, bouncing from foot to foot and slashing the air menacingly with long claws. "What are these things? Heartless?" Sora wondered.

"No, that emblem isn't the same." Donald Duck decided. "And we took care of the Heartless already, remember?"

"Gawrsh, they look just as mean as Heartless! I think we're in trouble!" Goofy summoned his Knight's Shield, and Donald summoned his Mage's Staff.

"What do you want?" Sora yelled, summoning the Kingdom Key.

 _We have come to test you._

"Huh? What kind of test?" It didn't register until later that the creatures hadn't spoken audibly...nor did Sora realize that only he could "hear" them. His question was answered by one of the creatures leaping into the air upside down and tearing up the space below it on its way to Sora. The Keybearer smacked its arms away, and the creature tumbled out of the air in a disorganized heap of white limbs. It rejoined the fight five seconds later, but by then Sora was trying to deal with its two companions.

Sora's Keyblade worked about as well as usual on these creatures, but Goofy's shield barged right through them with no effect. Donald saw this and tried his trusty Donald Thunder spell. A trio of lightning bolts fell from a few feet up, and two of them struck the monster Goofy had missed. The creature burst into a shower of blue sparkles, defeated. Meanwhile, Sora bisected the one he was working on, and that one also vanished.

These creatures didn't drop munny like the Heartless did, but Donald could tell that standing next to one as it burst had restored his mana. "Beat them to get mana back!" He called to the others.

"Now what would I do with mana...?" Goofy wondered.

Sora wondered that too, but although he quickly remembered that he was almost as good as Donald in the magic department, he realized the spells he remembered weren't working. "Deep Freeze! Force! Aw, come on! Wind? My magic isn't working!" Sora cut down the last creature, but they were replaced by five more.

"That's no good! Just fight them off with the Keyblade!" Donald cast a few more Thunder spells, but he'd also lost most of his spellcasting ability. Donald Thunder was the weakest variant of the spell he'd ever used, and his other elemental spells were as non-functional as Sora's. Donald Thundaga used to be a sight to see when he blasted Invisibles into powder with it in The End of the World, but it seemed he'd have to work his way back up from where he'd been at the start of that journey. "I'm barely ahead of Sora now... Wak!" Another wave of creatures appeared while two were still around from the last. "Don't they ever give up?"

Goofy had been trying to whack the monsters around with his shield the whole time, but no matter which moves he used, or how hard he swung his definitely-not-a-weapon, he never made contact. He could still block the swipes that came at him, but as the knight began to tire out, one of the creatures landed a hit past his defense and knocked him down in the center of the ring. "Whoa!"

Sora and Donald moved closer to Goofy to defend him while trying to beat the rest of the enemies, but by now the creatures outnumbered the heroes five to one. Donald ran out of mana despite the small boosts gained from defeating the creatures, and slumped down with his back to Goofy's. Sora was also on his last legs, and he managed to cut down the eleventh-from-last monster in the current wave before he also collapsed. A monster flew at him while he sat on the ground. He squeezed his eyes shut and feebly raised the Keyblade to block, but the attack never landed.

The sounds of a magic weapon striking home and the splashing sound the monsters made when they were destroyed repeated ten times in quick succession. By the time Sora cracked his eyes open, the party's mysterious savior had already destroyed all the monsters. It was typical luck for the heroes that their strength gave out in the middle of the last wave...

The first thing Sora saw was their savior's weapon. It was unmistakably a Keyblade, and in fact it looked just like Sora's Kingdom Key with the colors reversed. Sora couldn't quite recall where he'd seen it before. The Kingdom Key D sparkled in the light of the perpetual sunset.

The first thing Donald and Goofy noticed when they simultaneously got a good look at the short, black-hooded figure was the thing Pence had described: "He had these big, round ears." The Disney Castle officials practically climbed over Sora to get a closer look. "King Mickey?!"

The King turned back to them and put a finger under his lips, which extended with his nose slightly beyond the hood. "Shh! You gotta board the train and leave town! The train knows the way!" The King dismissed his Keyblade and pulled a small, white pouch out of his pocket. It was made of soft fabric, and had the royal seal of Disney Castle embroidered on the side.

Sora took the pouch and opened the drawstring to look inside."What... There's got to be at least five thousand munny in here!" And there was something else, too. Nestled in a small fortune of munny (there was so much that the wallet seemed too small to hold it; could it be a derivative of Merlin's Bag of Holding, perhaps?), there was a round, blue crystal, about the size of a pinball. "What is that?"

"King Mickey!" Sora looked up to find that the King was running down the hill. His ears disappeared out of sight, and the three friends' expressions drooped.

"Was that really him?" Sora wondered. He hadn't been wearing a black coat the last time they'd seen him.

"I think so... Yep, I know it was!" Goofy thought it over, then brightened up.

"Now we know he's okay!" Even Donald was in a good mood now. They hadn't had a clue of the King's whereabouts until the end of the last adventure, and he hadn't left in a safe situation at the Door to Darkness. The weight lifted off his retainers' minds at last, and left them wanting to jump up and down like they had when Sora woke up.

"Yeah!" Sora agreed. "The King was locked in the Realm of Darkness, right?" That was where Sora had glimpsed Mickey's Keyblade before. "So he must know where Riku is, since the two of them were together when we closed the Door." Of course, for all Sora knew, that could have been years ago. Come to think of it, his clothes felt a little tighter than they used to. Did they shrink in the mist from that pod, or had he slept long enough to grow a few inches taller? Whatever it was, he needed a new outfit. He couldn't go out on a second adventure with a permanent wedgie.

"I guess so..." Goofy trailed off.

"Well, I'm gonna go look for Riku so we can go back to the Islands! Kairi's there waiting for us!" Sora put out his right hand, palm down. "What do you say? How about we stick together for one last journey?"

Sora's longest-standing travel buddies placed their right hands on top of his. Goofy was the one who said it out loud. "All for one, and one for all!"

"So let's go! To...where again?" Sora realized he completely forgot where the King said to go.

"We hafta board the train!" Goofy reminded him.

"Sora, you dummy! The King just told us that a minute ago!" Donald scolded.

"Heh, heh... Well, it's a good thing Jiminy Cricket's here to write that stuff down! Right, Jiminy?" Sora called for backup.

"Absolutely. Don't worry, I won't miss a moment! I hope this volume doesn't randomly erase itself, though..." Jiminy had switched to recording in his backup Journal, just in case. The two leather-bound books were identical except for their contents.

"Great! Let's go to the station!" Sora led the way inside.

The inside of the station was large, even compared to the huge tower it appeared as on the outside. Luckily, Sora had seen a lot of structures like this, so he didn't waste time questioning it now. "Three tickets, please!" He asked the receptionist behind the window in the ticket booth.

"Which line?"

"Uh... I guess it's that weird purple one." The one that obviously didn't belong in this world.

There were some typing sounds, and the receptionist found a match. "Ah, I didn't know there was a line running now. I've got to re-check those schedules... That'll be 200 munny apiece." Sora handed the 600 munny through the hole in the window and retrieved three ticket stubs, still marveling about how much munny the King had over-provided. "Thank you for riding our trains! Have a nice trip!" Sora waved and ascended the stairs to the boarding platform with his friends.

"Sora!" A vaguely familiar voice shouted from behind. Sora turned to see Hayner running up the steps, followed closely by Pence and Olette.

"What are you guys doing here?" Sora wondered.

"We came to see you off!" Pence replied.

"It just...felt like something we had to do." Olette added softly.

"Um, Sora, you sure we haven't met before?" Hayner asked, scratching his head. There was this feeling that he _knew_ this kid, but there was something off with it. Was he mixing Sora up with someone else? Who else could it be? Visitors from out of town were almost unheard of.

"...Positive. Why do you ask?"

"I dunno... Hey, are you crying?" Hayner pointed out a tear rolling down Sora's cheek.

"What? I... That is so weird..." Sora wiped off the tear, and stared at his wet finger uncomprehendingly.

"Chin up, Sora! You can always visit later! We'll be on the balcony above us every day after school anyway." Pence piped up. Why was everyone getting so emotional? Pence felt funny, too, but his motto was "Roll With It."

"Speaking of school..." Olette began, and the other two automatically groaned. "We still have to get that report finished for the summer homework! Otherwise all that research into the Seven Wonders will be for nothing!" She glared at the other two for a second, and they gave in quickly. "When you come back, Sora, let's share some stories! I'll tell you all about the Seven Wonders of Twilight Town, and you tell us something about where you came from!"

"Didn't we figure out the Seven Wonders were all hoaxes, though?" Hayner wondered aloud. Before Olette could chastise him for messing up her plan, he continued, "The train leaves in two minutes, guys! You'd better get on. When you come back, _I_ promise to have some much better stories!"

"Got it! See you!" Sora approached the train, and the ticket stubs he was holding vanished into sparkles, causing the train's door to open automatically. The travelers boarded, and Sora waved at the Usual Suspects as the door closed. Their new friends stood watching the weird, purple train until it pulled through the gate and out of sight.

"Okay, so maybe the ghost train wasn't a complete hoax after all," Pence realized belatedly. Hopefully Sora hadn't just commuted out of their lives forever...

Sora, meanwhile, watched the town walls get smaller behind the train while holding onto a safety bar. "I guess... I'm sad."

"We'll be back," Donald appeased.

"Yeah, we can visit Hayner and those guys again! I wonder where we're going...?" Goofy looked out the window just as Light flooded in through it. When he blinked the spots out of his eyes, the view out the window was a fantastic green space with glowing auroras, and the tracks were shaped from glowing blue Light. The train spent four minutes in this transition space, then sped through a pinkish portal into another world.

 **VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

 _Neverland: Inside Skull Rock..._

Sure enough, right in the back of the cave, a rip in space showed a distorted view of a Hierarchical City, the tourist-rich Kazamotsu (not that Riku knew the name of it). A flicker of movement could be seen, and then a large, silver figure dashed through. The Time Break spread outward by a few inches as the last of the newcomer's armored heel left it behind.

"What devilry is this?" The newcomer's speech was distorted. Though it was easy to understand what he said, one got the sense that his voice was synthesized on a computer and then replayed into a soup can. He wore a mask that completely covered his face, leaving no holes for eyes or a mouth. There was enough space open on the back of his helm to allow his long, silver ponytail to trail out behind him. The rest of his armor was a cross between a cyborg, a samurai, and a demon. His entire body was covered. Half of the armor was a thick, black fabric, and the other was a sturdy, white metal. It didn't look like any material that could be mined from the earth. On each shoulder pad and each boot, four red eyes stared directly at Riku and Lambda, like they were the warrior's true eyes instead of whatever he hid under his mask. On his back, Riku couldn't help but notice he wore a sheath for a sword that almost matched the newcomer's own height, which was especially impressive when he considered that this newcomer from the Azure Timeline was more than seven feet tall.

"Scanning... Target identified as the Sankishin Susano'oh Unit. Searching... 1 match found. Target is Hakumen of the Six Heroes. Threat level maximum. Switching to Guard Mode. Summoning Lux Sanctus. IDEA Engine linked; Murakumo, activate." Lambda rattled off in her toneless, protocol-ruled voice. She was clad in the armor of Murakumo, and set her eight Petals to hang in front of her like a wall.

Riku remembered something about the "abridged" explanation Lambda gave him about her old timeline. Something about that word, Sankishin... What was it that she said?

"It would seem fitting that past such an unnatural distortion, I should find another devil created by the hands of man." Hakumen mused as he shifted a foot back. "Were you not slain by Terumi?"

"That was the other Lambda. I got a copy of her power after that, but Kokonoe cut me loose from her position as Master." Lambda tried to explain it in a way that wouldn't get Riku and herself cut down by the unfathomably powerful swordsman in front of them.

"...Left uncontrolled, your kind will always attempt to become the death of the world." Well, so much for diplomacy. Hakumen was never very receptive to words. "I will end you before you can become the Beast that will destroy us all. I am the white void." Hakumen settled into a sturdier stance. "I am the cold steel." He grasped the hilt of the massive sword on his back. "I am the just sword!" He drew the hilt sideways, and a silver mist seeped out of a slit in the sheath, hardening into the flat-tipped blade of the Nox Nyctores, Interfectum Malus: Ookami. "With blade in hand shall I reap the sins of this world and cleanse it in the fires of destruction!" Hakumen raise the blade to point at the enemies in front of him, holding both hands on the blade. An aura of pure power began to emanate from his whole body, making the air itself tremble. "I am Hakumen! _The end has come!_ " The Susano'oh Unit finally dashed forward with furious speed. Riku and Lambda barely managed to get out of the way of his low, horizontal slice.

"Do you say that whole speech every time you get in a fight?" Riku called from the far side of the cave, hoping Hakumen had no ranged attacks.

Lambda answered while jumping high into the air to dodge another hack from Ookami. "He does; it's a chant of some sort that seems to activate the Susano'oh Unit. It's such an awesome speech, though, that I don't think anyone's ever interrupted it to sucker-punch him." She air-dashed over to Riku's side.

"I have no need to explain myself to you. Who is this person you have manipulated to your side, Murakumo Unit?" Hakumen readied his sword for any counterattack, but held still to gather power for his more effective offensive skills.

"I don't need to explain myself to you either, _Susano'oh Unit_." Lambda sent a green sword his way, but he cut it in two. Lambda knew about this effect of Ookami, so she wasn't surprised when a void formed in front of him to block any further projectiles. "You're not going to listen, anyway, but I didn't 'manipulate' anyone. That would be a sick thing to do, from my perspective."

"Your opinion means nothing; your fate is sealed. Empty Sky Form...!" Lambda saw Ookami's blade point straight skyward over the obscuring void, gathering white clouds of sheer power, and she motioned to Riku to jump when the attack came. "Summer's Advance!" A line of white power ripped through the ground, leaving a jagged crack. It exploded against the wall of the cave, missing Riku and Lambda entirely. The void in front of Hakumen finally vanished, but the Susano'oh was already dashing through it.

Riku remembered the gist of Lambda's explanation from earlier as Ookami's blade clashed with Murakumo's Petals. Lambda had called herself an Anti-Sankishin Core Unit. Her programming would force her to try and kill this guy. All eight of her Petals slammed into Ookami one after the other, each one helping to slow the blade's arc. All the Petals strained against Hakumen's insane strength to hold him back, but Lambda was finally forced to backdash to get away.

"Can we even beat this guy? Well, I've got to try!" Riku flashed behind Hakumen to try to get past his defenses, but the eyes on top of Hakumen's shoulders turned to look right at Riku even before he stopped, and the samurai reacted before Riku's swing could connect. Hakumen raised his free arm and created a glowing blue shield to catch Soul Eater. Riku found himself momentarily paralyzed, and Hakumen grabbed his arm, then swung him overhead to slam the dark warrior into the ground. Riku managed to flash out of reach before Ookami could execute him, and the blade dug into the ground.

"He seems to have switched from using seithr to using the Power of Darkness instinctively! How did he change over so fast?" Lambda deployed a Gravity Seed beneath Hakumen's feet. His advance was slowed slightly, but he didn't show any weakness under the weight of the increased gravity.

"So that is what you call this power. I would rather not rely on such a tainted strength, but if it will allow my blade to reach you...!"

"Don't reach for more power, Hakumen!" Riku yelled, seeing the telltale signs. "Once the Darkness has a hold on you, it won't let go! I'm an expert on that kind of tragedy. Your real enemies are on the other side of the Time Break, right?"

"...!" Hakumen took a sharp breath (although no one will ever know if he really needed air), and calmed himself. "...It galls me to admit it, but you are correct, altered one. I must purge such weakness from myself in order to sever the grip those monsters have on my world. I will leave you be for now."

"Don't worry, the Time Break is two-way; you can get back to your own world through it. Don't cross any others you see, though, or the expansion will speed up." Lambda warned. "If we don't close these fast enough, they could become a greater threat to both continuums than even Terumi."

"My blade exists to slaughter evil. It cannot close these rifts, and I must never use it to cut souls who do not require my judgment of their sins or skills. Farewell. May you never become enemies worthy of my sword." Hakumen sheathed Ookami and stalked off through the Time Break without waving goodbye. The tense atmosphere he created simply by being in the room went back to normal.

"Target lost. Disengaging Battle Mode." Lambda dismissed Murakumo as the compulsion to kill Hakumen vanished with his departure.

"Man, that was close! I can think of at least three ways that guy could have ruined us." Riku let out a breath he'd been holding while he waited for Hakumen's reaction.

"Kokonoe, come in." Lambda called up the mad scientist on the radio. "We've located a Time Break. Our end is in a world called Neverland, and your end is in Kazamotsu."

"Got it, Lambda. Keep up the good work; I'll get Tager and Mickey on that right away." Kokonoe cut the connection.

"Mission accomplished, Riku! Should we wait here for Mickey, or move on right away?" Lambda asked.

"WHOOOA!" Her question was answered by a streak of Light zipping into the cave, zigzagging through the left "eye" of Skull Rock. The King moved even faster when it came to solving trouble! Mickey dusted himself off in the middle of the cave. "Hey, fellas! Nice work finding this one! I'll take it from here." Mickey summoned his Keyblade, Tager's voice crackled over the radio, and Riku opened a Dark Corridor as the Time Break was closed. Lambda and Riku moved on to the next world hand in hand.

 **VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

 _Outside the Mysterious Tower..._

The train stopped right next to a floating island covered with green bushes. There was a large, improbably-shaped tower standing on the far end. As the three travelers disembarked, the train began to glow. It vanished in a flash of light just as Sora started to move on. He chuckled nervously as it disappeared. "There goes our ride..."

Goofy loped back to the other two from where he'd been scouting up ahead. "There's some weird person poking at the door to that tower! Adventuring Rule Number Three: gather information!"

Sora realized something. "Right. Hey, Goofy, why don't you hold onto most of our healing items? That way you'll still be able to help if those white things attack again." Everyone Sora knew hated being powerless. That was what friends were for; to do things a single person can't.

"Gawrsh! Thanks, Sora! I was startin' to feel kinda useless back there, but now I don't! A-hyuck!" Goofy accepted the bag of Potions that Sora handed him. (Sora kept a couple items for himself. It was only common sense, in case they got separated like they'd been in Deep Jungle and Hollow Bastion.) Goofy could spend more time focusing on strategic item use and defense this way.

As for Donald, he'd gone off to the side and looted some treasure chests. He gave the Potion and Ether he found to Goofy. Donald's job last time had been magic support, and he'd always had a good eye to find hidden treasure chests, even those behind false walls or puzzles. It was a useful skill he'd gotten from his greedy streak. Even most of the "bad" traits people could have were helpful in the right context.

Sora himself walked up to the stranger, who seemed to notice them, but didn't react. "What are you up to?" The boy asked without any trace of malice. He was honestly curious.

"Heh, heh... I sent some of my lackeys inside to see if the master of this here tower's as big and tough as they say. See, it don't matter how tough he is. Once he's a Heartless, he'll do as I say!" The stranger outlined his evil plot without even turning around to check who he was blabbing to.

"Heartless?" Donald exclaimed.

"Yep! They're those things that come outta the Darkness in folks' hearts. Maleficent loved working with 'em. And since I got me a debt to pay, I've been going around to a bunch of different worlds and buildin' an army of Heartless, special for her!" The man-cat-thing still didn't turn around. "Why am I talkin' to you pipsqueaks anyway? Go on, scram! I'm behind schedule as it is!" He waved a hand behind him impatiently.

"You oughtta find something nicer to do!" Goofy reasoned.

"Oh, says who?" The mystery villain finally turned around. He was from the same Disney Town as Donald and Goofy, judging by his anthropomorphic animal features. As he actually saw the heroes, he got worked up. "Wha-? It's you!"

"Pete?!" Donald and Goofy exclaimed simultaneously.

"What are you two nimrods doin' here?" Pete pointed a finger at them, ignoring Sora for now.

"What are _you_ doing here?" Donald retorted.

"Do you two know him?" Sora asked, hoping to get back in the loop.

"We sure do! Pete's been causing trouble in Disney Town for ages!" Goofy replied, holding his shield up against Pete. "His Majesty banished him to another dimension a long time ago. I wonder how he escaped..."

"You wanna know how, eh? Well, Maleficent busted me out, that's how! Besides, the King wasn't even there! That would have been great compared to 'Her Highness' Queen Minnie ordering it. Which is what actually happened-ugh. But that was then, this is now! And now, your world-no, no, _all_ the worlds-are gonna belong to Yours Truly! 'Cause Maleficent's gonna help me conquer 'em!"

Sora noticed a practical problem with that plan, in addition to the obvious point that it was Sora's job to stop creeps like that. "Maleficent... Huh."

"What are you mumbling about, pipsqueak? Why, Maleficent's power is so great that-" 

Sora interrupted. "She's toast!"

"...That she could... Whaddya mean?!" Pete trailed off from expounding the late Maleficent's awesome powers and left his jaw hanging open.

"Sorry, but Maleficent can't help ya now!" Goofy told him, and the three friends started laughing to themselves. Maleficent was serious business back then, but it was impossible to take her underling Pete that seriously.

"...YOU! So you're the ones that did it!" The hostility coming from Pete leveled up again.

"Well, we might have had something to do with it," Sora teased, holding his hands behind his head in a carefree pose.

"Grr... Heartless squad, round up!" Pete bellowed, and Shadows peeled themselves off the ground to attack the heroes. Pete raised a barrier to cut off access to the Mysterious Tower and himself, leaving his Heartless subordinates to deal with the heroes.

Of course, Sora and company had way more experience fighting Shadows than any other type of enemy. The Heartless also seemed weaker than the white creatures from earlier. Sora and his friends mopped up the ten or so grunts with almost casual ease.

As the last Heartless was defeated, Pete's barrier was dispelled. He growled impotently at the heroes. "That's it! Nobody, and I do mean nobody, messes with the mighty Pete!" Pete didn't quite catch the irony that "Nobody" would mess with him; neither did Sora.

"Well, 'mighty' Pete, who lives in this tower, anyway?" Sora asked, wondering if Pete would actually reward him with an answer for winning.

"Oh, you don't know? Well, it's old Yen Sid. Of course, he's probably a Heartless by now!" Pete vanished in a puff of smoke.

"What a weirdo..." Sora muttered.

"Master Yen Sid lives here? I completely forgot!" Donald rushed up the front steps and into the unlocked door.

"Yen Sid is the King's teacher!" Goofy explained. "The King ran off like this before, more than ten years ago. We came here to try and find him." 

"He taught the King? Sounds powerful. But if the King ran off last time more than a decade ago, how old are you guys?"

"...Gawrsh, I dunno. We don't keep track of ages in Disney Castle; we just celebrate birthdays. The King thinks counting up the years since you were born is like counting down the years until you die. No reason to not have cake every year, though!"

Sora mulled over that info for a second. "Yeah, that does sound like it makes for a better party, especially when it's peaceful. Let's follow Donald; he's probably getting impatient."

"Right!" The pair dashed up the stairs, but still got bonked on the head by Donald's staff before they started climbing the Wayward Stairs.

 **VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

 _The Mysterious Tower: Wayward Stairs..._

There were three free-floating sections of stairs to climb in the tower, interspersed with large chambers. The biggest common feature in every room, however, was the Heartless. Shadows and Soldiers assaulted the heroes after every five steps.

Donald got really sick of it. "Heartless, Heartless, Heartless! Things haven't changed one bit!"

"You mean, the worlds aren't at peace after all?" Sora asked.

"I dunno. Let's ask Master Yen Sid about it. He'd never lose to little guys like these." Goofy opened the last door, and the group entered the highest floor in the tower.

 **VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

 _The Mysterious Tower: Sorcerer's Chamber..._

Sora caught up to the other two, and found them bowing low toward an old man with a really long beard sitting behind the desk in the center of the chamber. "Master Yen Sid! It's an honor!" Donald intoned with as much respect as his voice was capable of expressing.

"Hey there!" Sora waved to Yen Sid, who chuckled at his casual way of addressing the wise old sorcerer.

"Hey, Sora! Show some respect!" Donald had been trying to get Sora to respect various authority figures (including the position of Royal Magician) for a while now, with no success.

"There's no need for that." Yen Sid motioned for Donald and Goofy to stand up straight. "Now, have you met the King yet?"

"We did, Master, but we didn't get a chance to talk to him." Goofy reported.

"Yes, the King has been quite busy as of late. He and his other allies have been coming in and out of this tower for the last few days, attempting to fight back against several crises that have cropped up in the absence of you three heroes."

"Then the worlds aren't at peace after all? I was looking forward to finding Riku, so we could go back to the Destiny Islands." Sora was beginning to see a pattern here. There may not be rest for the wicked, but a hero's work is certainly never done.

"And you may yet do so," Yen Sid agreed. "However, everything in your journey, Sora, is connected. Whether you will find your way back home to the Islands... Whether you will return alone, or with your friend... And whether or not the Islands will still be there." Yen Sid outlined progressively more worrisome possible outcomes that stood between Sora and his goal. "And the key that connects them all...is you, Sora."

"I'm...the key?" Didn't Yen Sid mean the Keyblade? After all, they'd learned last time that Sora was only "borrowing" the Kingdom Key. He summoned it into his hand.

"Indeed. Chosen wielder of the Keyblade! You are the key that will open the Door to Light!" Yen Sid proclaimed dramatically. Sora began to feel better about the ownership issue, since if the wise old man who got his kicks from reading the future thought Sora was a legitimate Keyblade wielder, he was probably right. Of course, Sora wasn't thinking in those exact terms. Yen Sid continued. "The King is traveling from world to world, fixing problems in each. Therefore, the task of instructing and informing you three falls on my shoulders. Well, at least I don't have to get out of my chair to do so. I'm still trying to retire; maybe I should redefine what I meant by that." Without waiting for a response, Yen Sid summoned a wide, but thin tome on Sora's side of the desk. "That book contains valuable knowledge. Be sure to read it carefully."

Sora opened the book. It had only three pages, each one filled from top to bottom with incomprehensible riddles. "I can't make heads or tails of this, Master Yen Sid. Am I reading it wrong?"

"No, the riddles of the book aren't supposed to make sense now. One day you'll look back, and you'll know exactly what it meant. For now, let it be enough that you will be subconsciously forewarned of the general flow of events. Take special note of the source of this conflict. The book refers to our enemies' motive as 'confusion.' It goes deeper than that, but the major lesson to take away from here is that even villains such as those you fought last year may have deeper motives than simple destruction."

That was quite deep, but Sora already gave his enemies the benefit of the doubt and a chance at redemption (even if Maleficent and her cronies generally ended up slapping his hand away), so he must be on the right track already. "Ah, I see. Is there anything else I should know?"

"Yes. The time has come to speak of the enemies you will surely confront." Yen Sid waved a hand, and a magic hologram appeared in a pillar of Light, depicting... Donald Duck?!

The pillar grew brighter, and then faded again to reveal a Shadow in Donald's place. Yen Sid explained, "If one such as you, Donald, yields to the Darkness in their heart, they too will become a Heartless. But you know this."

"Aww..." Poor Holo-Donald!

"But why are the Heartless still running around?" Sora asked. Was the whole last journey to seal the Keyholes and release Kingdom Hearts all for nothing, then?

"Your previous endeavors did prevent an immense effusion of Heartless from the Realm of Darkness, make no mistake about that. But the Heartless are Darkness made real, and Darkness yet lingers in every heart. The Heartless are fewer, but so long as Darkness remains in a single heart, it will be difficult to be rid of them."

They'd be here forever, then...but Goofy had an idea. "Hey! Then if everybody's heart was full of Light, them Heartless would go away!"

"Indeed, though I have no way to know how such a thing could be accomplished. At any rate, you have also encountered these." Yen Sid continued, creating another hologram pillar with one of the skinny, white creatures inside. "At times, when someone of a strong heart and will-be they evil or good-becomes a Heartless, the empty shell they leave behind begins to act with a will of its own. An empty shell whose heart has been stolen away; a spirit that goes on even as its true body fades from existence. For you see, Nobodies do not truly exist at all."

"Nobodies..." Sora reflected on the now-named creatures that attacked so persistently.

"While Heartless act on instinct, Nobodies function in a higher manner." Yen Sid continued to explain. He enjoyed talking and teaching; if he didn't, he would have been more likely to blast random visitors. "They can think and plan. And it seems they are working towards a goal. What that goal is, I'm afraid I do not know." Yen Sid summoned two more Nobody holograms, standing in a group. "In any case, the being before you is known as a Dusk. They are among the most common forms of Nobody. On your journey, you will meet an alarming number of Dusks. They will all attempt to do you harm. Be vigilant!" Sora, Donald, and Goofy simultaneously whipped their heads back to look at Yen Sid, in an effort to be vigilant. "Still, they are nothing but empty shells, destined to fade back into Darkness. However..." Yen Sid summoned three more holograms, each with a more human figure in a black coat. "The beings you see before you now are different. These powerful Nobodies have formed a group called Organization XIII. It commands the lesser Nobodies. These beings are very dangerous; never let your guard down." The holograms all disappeared. "His Majesty, the King, has ventured forth to combat the Heartless and find answers to the riddle of the Nobodies and Organization XIII."

"Then we need to get after him!" Goofy decided.

"Indeed. However, before you go, Sora, you will need more suitable traveling clothes. Those look a bit too small for you." Yen Sid gently pointed out.

"Gawrsh, Sora, you sure are growing fast!" Goofy noted.

"That's what she said!" Donald guffawed, earning a glare from Sora.

Yen Sid gestured to a door on the heroes' right."Through that door, you'll meet three good fairies. If you ask, they'll create for you some more appropriate garments."

"Okay, sir. Thanks a lot!" Sora waved and passed through the door.

 **VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

 _The Mysterious Tower: Dressing Room..._

The next room was lined with wardrobes and several full-length standing mirrors, all covered by cloth. In the back of the room, three old ladies in color-coded dresses and hats chatted in a huddle. Sora called out, "Hello? Master Yen Sid wanted me to ask you to make me some clothes."

The three fairies (their wings were tiny, but definitely functional) perked up immediately. "Well, would you look who's here, girls! Sora, Donald, and Goofy! I'm Flora. Fauna wears the green, and Merryweather wears the blue." The red-dressed fairy introduced her trio.

"If you're looking for clothes, you've come to the right place!" Fauna gushed as she grabbed Sora's hand and led him forward a few more steps. "I'll do the designing!" She flicked a golden wand in Sora's direction, and a green bolt of magic struck him in the chest. He flinched, but all the painless spell did was turn his clothes green. They were also still too small.

"Oh, that will never do!" Merryweather groused, firing a blue bolt that turned Sora's outfit blue instead.

"But don't you like this better?" Fauna turned Sora green again. No matter how many times this spell turned out to be harmless, Sora couldn't help but flinch.

"Hold on!" Flora joined the argument by turning Sora's outfit all red.

"Blue!"

"Oh, dears..."

And so on. Sora's legendary patience finally wore out. "Would you just decide?"

The three fairies suddenly realized how childish they'd been acting. Flora recovered first. "Alright then. Together now, dears. And no more squabbling!" A spin and a flick of their three wands shot three twirling beams of magic at Sora. He flinched again as a much brighter flash made real improvements to his outfit.

"Oh, he's lovely." Sora's shoes were still a few sizes too large to belong on ordinary feet, but now they had black designs over the yellow background.

"Yes, he does look very dashing!" His outfit was mostly the same in terms of what articles he was wearing, but it was all sized correctly now, and Sora marveled at how good it felt to not have a wedgie as he looked himself over some more. His new color scheme was black with white highlights on the sleeves, along with patches of navy blue on his pants and sleeves. Yellow straps crossed over his hips to hold up his adventuring pouches, which were a less-potent variant of Merlin's most useful item. He could hold up to ninety-nine of anything that could fit in the pockets. Rummaging around in them, he noticed he only had one backup Keychain for his Keyblade now; hopefully he'd find more over this new quest to replace the ones he'd lost. But why did he even have one left?

Flora began to explain the coolest part of Sora's coolest outfit ever. "Now, these aren't ordinary garments. They have very special powers."

"Say what?" Sora asked. He didn't feel any very special powers suddenly awakening.

"Take the Orb, dear..." Fauna shot a green bolt at him, but it stopped in front of him and turned into a yellow Orb. Sora reached for it, and it vanished into his glove.

"...And watch what happens!" Merryweather excitedly continued.

Sora suddenly exploded with power. When the Light he'd given off faded away, he became aware of weights in both hands. The right hand was his Kingdom Key, and the left hand was another Keyblade! __ **Star Seeker...**

"Cool! Two Keyblades!" Goofy cheered. Sora continued to look himself over. His outfit had changed from mostly black to mostly red, and there were cross-like decals on his shoulders and shorts. He felt out what sort of powers this form might give him, and found that while his magic was completely blocked, his muscles felt able to lift buildings and throw them. Coupling that strength with the dual-wielding Keyblade action, he could probably shred armies in straight melee combat.

But of course, all awesome things must come to an end. Sora suddenly felt a wave of weakness, and the Star Seeker vanished as his clothes became black again. "What was all that?"

"It's called a Drive Form! Your clothes have the power to transform by drawing power from your friends! You could use a Drive Recovery item like this..." Flora tossed Sora a larger yellow orb, "...to transform without having to merge with Goofy completely, but you'd still need Goofy nearby to manage it." 

"So this Drive Form comes from your power, Goofy?" Sora asked the dog. Goofy nodded. He'd felt a weird pull toward Sora while he'd been transformed, as well as feeling a bit weaker than usual. "How does it work if I don't have the Drive Recovery anymore?"

"You'd need to build up power by fighting Heartless. Each hit you land will add power to your garments, but the process takes time. Eventually, you may learn to gain power from the Heartless hitting back as well. If you're recovering your mana, you'll gain more power to use your Drive Forms in combat, so don't hold back your spells!" Merryweather explained.

"Yeah, about that-" Sora tried to point out that his magic wasn't working, but he was interrupted as Fauna picked up the explanation.

"Furthermore, to use your new 'Valor Form' without a Drive Recovery, you'll need to merge with Goofy completely. He'll vanish until the Drive Form expires, at which point he'll reappear good as new. Going into a Drive Form will completely heal your wounds and those of each friend you merge with, so it might be a good choice in a pinch."

"Can Donald merge with me to produce a different Drive Form?" Sora wondered. He was sure Donald didn't want to be left out of the loop with this new move.

"Your garments do have other powers, but you will have to discover what they are as you continue on your journey. The Royal Family of Disney Castle knows the most about the technique, so perhaps you should one day return to your friends' home to learn more." Flora suggested.

Merryweather piped up. "Make good use of these new powers; this journey will be twice as difficult as your last!"

"Aw, man, I was hoping that mess at the Station Plaza was a one-time thing." Sora was still kind of humiliated that they'd been beaten by a bunch of lesser monsters.

Merryweather gave him a pitying look. "Actually, you should probably get used to that. It'll happen again. Always strive to grow stronger, Sora!"

"Run along now! There's one more gift for you from Master Yen Sid!"

The heroes grinned at each other. Hooray for gifts! Sora waved at them. "Thanks a lot, fairies! We're off!"

 **VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

 _Mysterious Tower: Sorcerer's Chamber..._

When the three friends ran back into Yen Sid's chamber, he was standing up at the side of his desk. He gestured outside his window. Sora and company ran up to peer outside, and were surprised as a familiar red vehicle rose to block the view.

"It's the Gummi Ship!" Donald cheered. The Gummi Ship was Donald's favorite part of the last adventure. At first, Sora hadn't been fit to fly the rocket, so Donald was the pilot for half the journey. Sora had gained impressive flying skills when he pried the stick from Donald's death grip on the way to Agrabah, though, and by the end, the magician had to admit Sora had a better chance of getting them to The End of the World. Gummi travel was still the Best Thing Ever, since now Donald got Sora's old dibs on the shotgun seat, running the Deco-Gummis to shoot Heartless with bullets and lasers. Goofy kept watch on the radar and flight path to make sure they reached their destination.

The three friends lined up at attention, ready for permission to take off. Yen Sid gestured for them to settle down. "Now, now, just a moment." The three friends slumped out of their military posture. "As you know, your previous endeavors have returned the worlds to their original states. That means the pathways between them have disappeared. Travel by Gummi Ship will not get you far." 

"Aww..." All three of them groaned mentally. Donald also groaned verbally.

"Fear not. If what the King suspected proves true, the worlds will have prepared new pathways along which you may travel. These pathways may be used by unlocking special gates in every world. I do not know what form these gates will take, but the Keyblade will serve as your guide." Sora summoned his Keyblade for good measure. Yen Sid gave his last instructions. "When a beam of Light radiates from the Keyblade, return to the Gummi Ship. Beware, however. As you proceed, your enemies will be using their own paths-Corridors of Darkness, to travel from world to world. They may also link these dark pathways to the gates you will use."

"That's not fair!" Donald grumbled.

"Now go, Sora, Donald, and Goofy! Everyone is waiting!" Yen Sid teleported the three friends to the Gummi Ship's cockpit.

 **VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

 _The World Map..._

This was actually a different ship from their old one, though the specifications of the "Highwind" were similar to the old "Kingdom" model. The best new feature was the third seat; it used to be that Goofy had to stand up and hold onto something, because there were only enough seats for a pilot and gunner (Donald and Sora's jobs). It looked like Goofy's new station had a remote terminal for something called a "Teeny Ship System," but they hadn't built any Teeny Ships to use with it, and they certainly didn't know how to build them. The Royal Engineers Chip and Dale might, though.

Speaking of the chipmunk brothers, the radio squawked. "Hey there, fellas! It's your favorite Gummi engineers here! Chip..."

"And Dale! We'll take care of the Gummi Ship while you're out helping folks!" 

"Happy flying!" The brothers called simultaneously, then hung up.

"Alright! Let's go on another adventure!" Sora pulled the throttle and blasted off.

 **VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

 _A/N: Man, writing a world each for Sora's and Riku's side of the story made this chapter REALLY long! This is more than 10,000 words! That's good news, huh? Expect the pattern of switching back and forth between Sora and Riku to continue for several more chapters; I like how I can leave one group at a cliffhanger and work on the other, then come back to resolve both in the same chapter. Is it working out for all of you? Thanks for all your support!_


	13. A New Road Has Opened

**Silver Linings**

 **Chapter 13: "A New Road Has Opened."**

 _A/N: It's a bit late. I spent the weekend visiting back home, and got my thoughts together with my brother and a few regular reviewers. There are three worlds with unresolved problems left over from_ Days _: Halloween Town (the Leechgrave has been munching Heartless), Wonderland (Crimson Prankster...and Hazama! Stay tuned!), and Beast's Castle (this chapter). Riku and Lambda will deal with those worlds before Sora reaches them on his own quest. Which means Beast's Castle has to happen now, while Sora is one world away in Hollow Bastion._

 **VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

 _Beast's Castle..._

Riku and Lambda stepped out of the Dark Corridor into a familiar gloomy setting. Lambda wondered, "Beast's Castle? Why are we back here?"

Riku replied, "We're looking for trouble. I sent us to the closest, largest Heartless I could sense."

The distinctive sound of another Dark Corridor heralded the arrival of another man in a Black Coat. The hood obscured his face, but he held himself differently from all the other Organization members the travelers had seen so far. He scoffed, "The impostors? I don't have time to play with children right now. Run along before I impale you."

"Oh? I thought we were 'kill on sight,'" Lambda shot back. "What's so much more important, you... Which one are you?"

"...Xaldin, Number III. If you truly must know, my mission today is to eliminate the massive Heartless here. It's scheduled to arrive in three." 

"Three whats?" Riku asked.

"Two... One..." 

*BANG!* A sound like a cannon discharging came from the bridge to the south, and a mass of brown fur, fangs, and muscle flew over the high wall separating the two areas. The creature fell between the interlopers in an ungraceful heap.

Riku blanched. "A Heartless that can beat the Beast?"

"Ah, perfect," Xaldin mused with a pleased tone. "Here's my ultimatum. You're most likely here to fight that Heartless. I will allow you to do so and take my leave. Best case, the Infernal Engine will destroy you, and I will come in after to clean up. Worst case, you might defeat the Heartless, which would complete my mission here."

"What about the Beast?" Lambda pressed.

"For our plans to succeed, I need that insufferable creature alive...for now. You have my word that no harm will befall him today. Don't you have a beast of your own to slay?" Xaldin paced backwards through a Dark Corridor without waiting for another reply.

*RUMBLE...* The ground began to shake as the massive Heartless advanced towards the castle.

"I don't like it, but we have to take Xaldin's word for it," Riku decided. "He probably wants to manipulate the Beast later, but there won't be a 'later' if we let that thing destroy the castle!" Lambda nodded her understanding, and the two of them dashed through the gate to the bridge.

The Infernal Engine could best be described as a giant box of death. It trundled forward on caterpillar treads, showing off a large cannon in its jagged mouth. On top of the boss, three smaller knight-like Heartless aimed bows at the heroes. The Heartless was just as wide as the bridge, leaving no room to get behind it. It was already halfway to the gate when Riku and Lambda arrived, and sent an opening volley in the form of a massive fireball from its cannon.

Riku raised a Dark Shield, bouncing the cannonball back in an arc. It struck one of the smaller Heartless on top of the machine, destroying it, but the other two minions retaliated with arrows. Riku and Lambda dashed forward to get out of the place the arrows would land. Lambda used Act Parcer to close in and attack the Infernal Engine, but her Petals didn't do much damage. She switched to shooting summoned swords at the little rascals that were re-aiming their bows at her, only to have them replaced. "A little help here, Riku?"

"I'm working on it!" Riku flashed into melee range and tried his own combos, but they didn't do much more than Lambda's. "We're hurting it a little, but not enough..." The whole time, the Infernal Engine continued to advance, and by now they had only a quarter of the bridge open to dodge. Apparently deeming itself in range to assault the gate, the massive Heartless opened its jaws wide to reveal a huge battering ram that began to glow as it gathered power.

"That can't be good." Lambda hammered the ram with a few summoned swords and Crescent Saber, which caused the Heartless to react more than the previous hits. It even slid backwards several meters before shutting its jaw and trying to advance again. "It was trying to ram the gate with its weak point? Well, there's our strategy." Lambda repelled another cannonball into the archers, who just kept respawning.

"Let's chip it down to size until it opens up again, then. Forget the archers and get in as much damage as possible." Riku held Soul Eater in front of himself, then summoned a _second_ Soul Eater in his other hand. The two blades connected by lengthening their handles, and Riku used the new double-headed naginata to perform a spinning attack. "Dark Maelstrom!" Even with its weak point protected, the Infernal Engine was driven back by the assault. Riku finished the move with an uppercut accompanied by a pillar of dark flames.

"That was _so cool_ , and that's coming from me. I summon way more swords all the time, like this-Legacy Edge! And that was still _so cool!_ " Lambda paused mid-squee to open a wormhole and launch forty daggers at the Infernal Engine, temporarily popping the archers and driving it back to the opposite end of the bridge.

"I guess it was," Riku agreed. "Swords are pretty much the coolest thing ever. But while dark powers _look_ cool, that's part of the trap..." He continued striking the Heartless with an aerial combo, using the Darkness to hold himself aloft longer and get in a few (dozen) extra sweeping hits. Something exploded inside the giant box of death, and smoke rose from somewhere in the back of the Heartless. All the minions simultaneously popped, and lines of energy jetted out of cracks in the beast's armor. "Get back, Lambda!" Riku grabbed the Prime Field Device and flashed back to the courtyard as the Infernal Engine exploded, launching bits of armor all over the bridge. The hearts that had been held captive in the boss scattered across the sky, and hopefully would reform into smaller Heartless instead of that tank.

"Mission accomplished...for Xaldin." Lambda scowled at the spot where the Beast had fallen. He wasn't there now, but the disturbed dust around that spot showed that Xaldin had dragged him into a Dark Corridor that used to be a few feet away. "Was he taken off-world?"

Riku shook his head. "No, he's still here. His scent is pretty distinctive; it's a mix of Darkness, wet dog, and roses. He's just been moved back to his chamber."

"Should we leave him to deal with Xaldin?"

"No, we'll leave _Sora_ to deal with Xaldin. He's got a better chance of getting through to the Beast if Xaldin works him into a rage. Sora's just a hop away, in cosmological scale. We'd better move on before he gets here."

The sound of a portal opening cut off Lambda's reply, but something was off about it compared to the usual Corridors of Darkness. Near the castle's front door, a black hold did open in the air, but the aged man who stepped out of it wasn't wearing a Black Coat.

 **VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

 _The World Map..._

Sora, Donald, and Goofy gazed at the display of the World Map on Goofy's console. What was left of it, anyway. There was only one open Gummi Route leading away from Twilight Town, one that was strangely empty compared to the old paths littered with raw Gummi Blocks. Goofy looked closer at the symbol on the map, and said, "Hey, I think it's a world we know!" The Highwind got them to their destination in a matter of minutes; there was no need to take it slow to dodge debris or Heartless this time.

 **VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

 _Hollow Bastion: Marketplace..._

"It's Hollow Bastion!" Sora exclaimed as the three friends landed in the town's dedicated spaceport. "It looks like they're fixing the town here. We should see if we can help out."

"You betcha!" Goofy loped ahead and bonked right into a tall man with blond, spiky hair. "Uh, sorry, sir... Wait a minute...!"

"Watch where you're going." The man continued walking.

"Hey, it's Cloud! Did you find what you were looking for?" Sora asked.

"Oh, it's you three. Not yet, but I'll get him. This time, we'll settle it." Cloud started mumbling to himself.

"Who?" Donald asked.

"Me, and the one who embodies all the Darkness in me. His name's Sephiroth. Long silver hair, carries a long sword."

"A sword _you_ consider long?" Sora gasped. "What is it, ten feet long?"

"Yeah," Cloud grumbled. "A katana that thin shouldn't be able to hold off my Buster Sword the way he did, but I've gotten better... I hope." Cloud patted the absolutely enormous sword on his back, still bandaged together after it had been shattered in some conflict from the blond's mysterious past. "If you see Sephiroth, let me know. Be careful, though. He messes with your head, tries to make you think Darkness is the only way," he warned Sora.

"Don't worry," Sora assured. "I'll be safe. Do you know anywhere I can help out around here in the meantime?"

Cloud stalked away, but called over his shoulder. "Leon's group could always use a new member or three. They're just up ahead."

"Why don't you join?" Donald yelled after the SOLDIER.

His response was a flat, "Not interested."

 **VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

 _Beast's Castle meets Castle Alucard..._

"Ah, these tea leaves are exquisite! I must remember to bake a batch of scones for Torakaka in thanks for finding such excellent fare for Madam Rachel..." The newcomer couldn't look more like a high-class butler if he tried, but Lambda knew he was far from a simple domestic servant.

"Scanning... Target is a male beastkin, approximately 110 years old. Referencing... Target identified as Valkenhayn R. Hellsing. Member of the Six Heroes. Affiliated with the Alucard vampire clan. Threat level: SS."

"Wha-?" Valkenhayn's exclamation was half yelp, half growl. "Where the devil is this? And speaking of the devil, what is a Murakumo Unit doing here?" The butler assumed an aggressive stance, but didn't draw any weapons.

"I'm not here to fight you, I swear!" Lambda hurriedly dismissed Murakumo. The mental strain of keeping it active tended to stack up over time, which was why she usually dismissed it after every battle, but she'd forgotten to do so after being yanked out of their previous foe's blast radius. "I'm not looking for trouble from the Azure Timeline! Speaking of which, you just opened another Time Break."

"Pardon?" Valkenhayn relaxed, which for him meant returning from combat readiness to his stiff and proper butler posture. "What on earth is a Time Break?"

"It's right behind you," Lambda pointed at the distortion where Valkenhayn's teleportation spell had vanished. "I'm traveling with Riku here and working with Kokonoe to close them, and buy us time to find a way to keep them shut, since they keep popping up."

Valkenhayn turned to the Time Break, and his jaw fell open. He took a second to collect himself before responding. "...It was enough of a stain on my honor to mistake this place for Madam Rachel's manor. To think that such a simple mistake could destroy timelines...!"

"Indeed." A young girl's voice echoed through the area, and Rachel Alucard appeared in a swirl of darkness (not the Heart Timeline's Darkness) and rose petals. "I hardly see how this dreary architecture could be confused for my own abode." Her voice spoke of centuries of refined culture, but she still looked like a child not even ten years old. Her Gothic dress, the bunny ear-like ribbons holding her long, blonde pigtails together, and her extremely high platform boots didn't seem suitable for combat, but Riku could feel the magic rolling off this girl. He tried not to look like a villain, despite wearing a villain's face under his anonymous black hood.

Valkenhayn bowed low before his mistress, which only brought his head level with Rachel's eyes. "My deepest apologies, Madam Rachel. I will make any reparations you require."

Riku shuddered, gave in to a silent struggle, and covered his nose. "...Ugh! Tone down the rose perfume!"

"You cur!" Valkenhayn was instantly between Riku and the vampire, growling deep in his throat. Riku was reminded of a dog raising its hackles at an intruder. "I will not tolerate insults to Madam Rachel!"

Riku uncovered his nose and tried to breathe through his mouth. "I can't help it. I use smell to sense Darkness, and my nose is pretty sensitive. Roses smell nice, but too much of a good thing..."

Rachel giggled. "How delightfully common of you. You remind me of a certain mutt I know, one with none of the refinement Valkenhayn displays. I will admit you have an advantage in politeness over Ragna's constant swearing, but the sentiment is the same. You're lucky I go easy on your type, young one."

"Madam Rachel, shall I remove this impertinent boy's entrails for you?" Valkenhayn proposed in a respectfully calm tone, as though asking whether Rachel would prefer jasmine tea or Torakaka's special Kagutsuchi tea with today's scones.

"No, Valkenhayn. I shall handle his reprimand personally. Return to the manor-correctly this time, if you please-and prepare the tea for my arrival. I shan't be more than a minute, which works out to about half an hour in the Azure Timeline as of right now. Use the extra time to locate the Red Devil and inform him of the Time Break here."

"As you command, Madam Rachel." Valkenhayn turned and walked back through the Time Break, presumably to try again at the teleportation spell.

 **VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

 _Back at Hollow Bastion..._

"Ah, this is terrible!" A heavily accented voice carried down the stairs as Sora and friends moved on. "I canna seem to create my old favorite!"

"Uncle Scrooge?" Donald yelped, running up the stairs with Sora and Goofy trailing behind him.

"Ah, Donald! Could you help an old man out with a small dilemma?"

"Sure, what do you need?" Sora asked.

"I'm trying to recreate a great ice cream flavor I tasted when I was a lad. I'd make millions if I got it right... What do you think of this one?" Scrooge handed Sora a purple and brown ice cream bar.

Sora probably should have known better than to try it. "Ack, that burns! What kind of ice cream burns your tongue?"

Scrooge sighed. "That's liver-pepper ice cream. Definitely not it." 

"Why would you even try to make liver-pepper into an ice cream flavor?" Donald griped as he grabbed the bar and threw it in a nearby trash bin.

"Because I'd make millions!" Scrooge replied as though it was obvious.

"Scrooge McDuck is the richest man...er, duck...in Disney Town," Goofy stage-whispered to Sora loudly enough to be heard down the stairs. "He has so much munny that no one can count it all, but he never spends any if he can help it." 

"Yep, my last accountant gave up somewhere in the 'impossibadillions', but I can always make more munny!" Cue the collective sighs from Sora, Donald, Goofy, and even Huey, Dewey, and Louie, who ran the adventuring shops in the plaza downstairs.

"Well, we've got to get going, but if we find a good idea for ice cream in our travels, we'll tell you about it when we come back to visit!" Sora waved to Scrooge and ran back to Louie's shop to purchase a few extra Potions and Ethers. Until the party found some substitute for their old Cure magic, they'd need a lot of healing items. They then moved into a residential district that was still partially under construction.

"Hey, you guys!" A perky female voice called from above them as they passed under an arch.

Sora looked up and spotted the speaker waving at them. "Yuffie!"

"I was hoping I'd... Watch out!" Yuffie pointed behind Sora, and he turned to see some Nobodies appear. Barriers rose around the alley to block Yuffie out and Sora's party in.

Sora cut the first few Dusks apart with the Kingdom Key, but they were replaced by a set of stronger Nobodies. _Samurai_ , whispered the unsettling voice in Sora's head as he took in the new creatures and their pairs of katanas. Sora was immediately forced to block a swing from one, and the Nobody slid backward into a ready stance. Instinctively, Sora matched the stance. Everything else seemed to slow down for a moment as Sora and the Samurai watched each other for an opening. The instant Sora saw it, he dashed forward and cut through the Samurai, ending the duel in one blow. As an added bonus, defeating the Samurai this way released a white shockwave through the air that destroyed its two fellows. The barrier fell.

"It looks like you're still in top form!" Yuffie called as she jumped from the ledge to stand next to the party.

"Well, what did you expect?" Sora laughed, despite knowing that he was far from being in top form right now. Still, at this rate, he'd get back up to snuff in time to actually need it. "It looks like you're doing okay." Yuffie had changed her clothes to a _slightly_ less revealing black outfit at some point, but Sora was referring to the fact that she had no visible injuries.

"Well, what did _you_ expect? I'm the Great Ninja Yuffie, after all! Anyway, come this way! Leon's been waiting for you!"

"What does that mean?" Sora wondered.

"You'll see. We're hanging out at Merlin's house, just down the street. I had a feeling I'd see you guys again, so we're all together for the welcome-back party!"

Sora jumped on an opportunity to goof around. "'We may never meet again, but we'll never forget each other.'" Sora pointed a finger while doing his best impression of Leon's cool voice.

"Was that supposed to be Leon?" Yuffie giggled. "Eh, whatever! I'll meet you there!" The Great Ninja vanished in a puff of smoke.

 **VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

 _Riku versus Rachel! Rebel 1. Action!_

"Is there any reason you want to deal with us alone?" Riku asked Rachel.

"There's something I need to confirm, is all. Furthermore, I rarely get a chance to act directly like this in the Azure Timeline. I plan to meddle much more after this, until the timelines can be properly separated again. It is truly a shame that our worlds cannot coexist as they are now."

"So combat it is, then." Riku took up his combat stance. "Lambda, are you in?"

"Of course, Riku. Summoning Lux Sanctus. IDEA Engine linked. Murakumo, activate!" Lambda re-armed herself and took up position slightly behind Riku. "Scanning... Target identified as the Sankishin Tsukiyomi Unit. Threat level: maximum. Anti-Sankishin protocols online."

Riku blanched. "Not another one! How many Sankishin will we have to fight?" He rushed in to keep the heat off Lambda. "Rachel, I'm going to have to keep this brief. Lambda's programming will end up with either you or her dead if this drags on."

Rachel swiftly floated out of reach, completely dodging Riku's slash. "That answers one of my questions. How much of her actions are forfeit to her programming in the absence of gods, I wonder? Still, such a trial could only kill her, not me. At any rate... Nago, Gii, to me." A black something and a red something flew out of the Time Break, causing the rift to grow about two feet larger in diameter. The black something twisted into the shape of a cat at Rachel's feet, while the red something turned out to be a fat, bat-like creature that hovered next to Rachel on tiny red wings.

"Oh, he's a pretty one, Princess! I think I'll take him home and bat him around!" The cat spoke as it twisted again into a parasol for Rachel to hold.

"Princess, what did this guy do to get punished by you?" The bat bounced up and down as it squeaked out the question.

Rachel's first action now that she was armed was to whack the bat with the parasol. "Nago, I do the thinking in my household. Gii, it is not your place to question me."

"My apologies, Princess..." Nago yelped as he made contact.

"Ouch! Sorry, Princess!" Gii bounced off the floor and right back to his hover, with the addition of a white bandage over the new lump on his head.

"Indeed you should be. Impish Gysophilia." Rachel waved an arm and summoned a small jack-o-lantern with wings. "Silpheed." A strong wind blew from behind Rachel, sending the pumpkin darting straight at Riku. Riku blocked, but the pumpkin struck with far more force than he expected, and he was blown backwards with the wind.

"Sickle Storm." Lambda summoned a spinning saw that held in place for a moment, then rushed at Rachel. Rachel merely jumped left, landing gracefully on one foot and dodging the attack completely.

"That attack was far too slow. Show me your determination, young ones. If you hold back, you'll never be more than a lost lamb adrift in the wrong world." Rachel gave an infuriating giggle.

"...If that was a pun on my name..." Lambda began to say.

"...What would you do about it?" Rachel goaded, holding Nago in front of her as a closed parasol like a fencer.

"Restriction 13 released. Darkness output maximized. Overdrive Code: Elysium engaged." Lambda pulled out all the stops, beginning to glow with a purple aura and green holograms from the IDEA Engine. "Terra Stinger! Act Parcer: Zwei: Blade! Spike Chaser! Legacy Edge!" Lambda flicked her wrist, but nothing seemed to happen. Then she teleported into melee range, catching Rachel's attempt to twirl aside with a low sweep of her Petals. Rachel was instead spun backwards onto the trap Lambda set in the first move, which speared her from below and followed with four summoned swords from above. Lambda pressed the advantage by summoning a line of rising swords from the ground, and before Rachel could stop tumbling through the air, opened a wormhole to release forty smaller daggers, pinning the vampire against the wall of the castle. Rachel slid down the wall to the ground, apparently motionless. Additionally, part of the wall slid aside, revealing a secret entrance.

Riku stood stock still for a beat, still trying to process the massive beat-down his girlfriend had just dished out. "Yikes, Lambda! I get that the pun was bad, but was it _that_ bad?"

Lambda stopped glowing as she reinstated her limiters. "Did I actually beat her?" she huffed, staring at the pile of petticoats that was Rachel Alucard.

"No, but you did pass the test," Rachel replied as she simply floated onto her feet and dusted herself off, apparently uninjured. "Your willpower is certainly impressive, at least when properly provoked. I actually felt some of those. Congratulations on surpassing every attempt Ragna has ever made to do the same. I will take my leave now. Rest assured that the Red Devil will be along shortly to close this Time Break, loathe though I am to contact Kokonoe in any capacity. I do hope you continue to hone that will of yours until the time comes when you'll have to use it." Rachel passed through the Time Break with dainty steps, boots clicking on the granite walkway. Almost immediately, Mickey arrived from the sky, claiming to have received a call from Tager.

Riku moved over next to Lambda as she dismissed Murakumo. "Wow, when Rachel says 'shortly,' she really means it!"

"Tager said something about teleportation, and Kokonoe was ranting about rabbits," Mickey commented as he helped close the Time Break. "You'd better get over to Halloween Town; there's been a weird drop in Heartless sightings over there, but they're all being replaced by the same kind of Heartless. What if they're evolving? I've got to get to the next Time Break; if you find one where you're going, let us know!" Mickey blasted off into the sky again, and Lambda and Riku ventured through another Dark Corridor to the next world.

 **VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

 _Hollow Bastion: Merlin's House..._

Sora's group fought through some relatively weak Soldier Heartless to reach Merlin's house. Goofy commented, "I see why we couldn't miss it! Why is it the only house with a door?"

"Yeah, you'd think it would be the only house with _no_ door, since Merlin can teleport," Sora replied. "I guess the other people still need to move in. Good to know we're in the right place, though!"

They opened the simple wooden door and were greeted by Yuffie's perpetually-smiling face. "Hi, guys! Meet the Hollow Bastion Restoration Committee!" She waved the three adventurers inside and pointed out Aerith and Leon standing off to the left, as well as Cid typing at a massive computer terminal that looked completely at odds with Merlin's other furniture. Leon and Cid were wearing outfits just like the ones Sora remembered from the last adventure, but Aerith was wearing a new dress with some white highlights and ribbons under an overdress in her usual pink.

Cid stopped typing and turned around. "Well, whaddya know. It's Sora, Donald, and Goofy! How you been?"

"It's been...weird," Sora replied.

Leon cut in, "I knew it."

"What did you know?" Sora asked incredulously. Leon had a tendency to state his conclusions without showing his work when it came to important events.

Leon explained with his usual serious expression. "A while back, everyone suddenly remembered you guys, all at the same time."

"Well, that's odd..." Sora mulled it over, then... "Wait a minute! Does that mean you forgot about us?"

"Thanks a lot!" Donald grumbled.

"Yeah, I thought you said we'd never forget each other," Goofy mumbled.

"It wasn't our fault," Aerith jumped in.

"Yeah!" Yuffie added. "It wasn't like you'd never existed, either. It was like...something on the tip of your tongue. We _knew_ it was something important that we _needed_ to remember, but we couldn't."

"Until suddenly... We did." Aerith closed her eyes and reminisced.

"I seem to recall everyone blurted out, 'Sora!' right at the exact same time," Yuffie giggled.

"Even Leon?" Sora wondered. It didn't seem like the gunblade-wielder's style.

"...You're tough. We needed you around." Leon looked away.

"Well, I'm glad to see I mean _so_ much around here," Sora sarcastically thanked him.

Aerith giggled. "Just think of it as a... Leon compliment."

"Anyway, where were you kids?" Cid griped. "Things have been looking up, but we could've used your help a month ago."

"We were sleepin'," Goofy sheepishly admitted.

"Where, in cold storage?" Cid wasn't actually far off in his guess, which left Sora and Co. standing around awkwardly.

"It doesn't matter. This is great! Everyone's together again!" Aerith beamed.

"Yeah. After you're done catching up here, Sora, come meet me at the Bailey. It's up the stairs on your right when you leave. There's something I need to show you." Leon gave a two-finger salute and walked out the door.

"What's all the excitement?" Merlin's slightly wheezy voice heralded his arrival in a puff of magic sparkles. "Oh, Sora, it's you! Yuffie, dear, did you give them the cards?"

"Oh! I almost forgot!" Yuffie handed Sora three purple rectangles of laminated plastic.

"They're gifts from us," Aerith explained.

Sora looked them over. On one side, a yellow crown was stamped on the purple background, with the words, "Hollow Bastion Restoration Committee -Honorary Member-" in white. On the backs of the cards, there was a white space with the names of the party written. It all looked surprisingly official for a group that sounded like something Yuffie made up. Sora handed the "Donald Duck" card to Donald and the "Goofy" card to Goofy, keeping the "Sora" card for himself.

"Membership cards!" Donald cheered.

"It's kinda cool, huh?" Goofy held his up to the light.

"It's not much, but we wanted you to know you can always come back here." Aerith smiled at the group and walked out the door.

"Hey, weren't you going to go meet Leon?" Yuffie wondered aloud.

"Oh, shoot! We're supposed to be at the Bailey!" Sora almost panicked. Leon had once whipped out his gunblade against the boy just for not being the highly-trained Keyblade Master Leon was expecting to find. Hopefully he wouldn't challenge Sora to a duel for being late.

"Hold on a moment, Sora, Donald. What happened to your magic?"

"I dunno. It just didn't work when I woke up," Sora mumbled, scratching his head.

"Maybe you forgot it while you were asleep?" Yuffie wondered.

"It's more likely you were in stasis, or otherwise indisposed, while the World was restructured after your last journey. When the worlds were reborn, the World's mana shifted slightly. Yen Sid told you about the new potential pathways between worlds, correct? A side effect is that spells work differently now. I can compensate easily because I was there when it happened, and I am of course a much higher-level wizard than yourselves." Donald grumbled at that, "Your case is uncommon, but I do have a solution. You may borrow this Blizzard Element for now." Merlin rummaged through his Bag of Holding and tossed Sora a small, green crystal orb. Sora managed to catch the trinket, and was instantly enlightened with how he could cast Blizzard now. "Let Donald hold that charm for a moment, then keep it with you. You may find more in your travels; seek them out. Now, get going before Leon grows impatient." Merlin shooed Sora and friends out the door; they went. "And you!" the wizard turned to Cid, " _You_ can 'log out' any time now. I'm still quite nettled that you stole this entire corner of my house for your computer."

"Ah, shove it, ya loon." Cid continued typing.

" _Loon_ , you say?!" And thus began an epic, but mostly one-sided rivalry between Gramps (Cid Highwind) and Great-Gramps (Merlin the Wizard) over the proper use of the back-right corner of Merlin's house.

 **VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

 _Hollow Bastion: Bailey..._

The Bailey was a stone corridor with a balcony overlooking a vast plain made of blue and violet crystals. Leon stood by the railing and waved the heroes over. "C'mere. There's something you need to see."

Sora leaned over the railing and saw a large castle in the distance. It wasn't the same castle he'd visited on his last journey-there were no mechanical parts sticking out, but the Heartless emblem on the highest tower was better preserved. "Whoa! Where'd that castle come from?"

Leon growled. "We didn't build it. Ansem's castle is the other way. My best guess would be Maleficent, but you beat her months ago. But I'm a bit more concerned about the view lower down."

Sora looked lower, and saw that the whole plain between the town and the ominous castle was teeming with Heartless. "What...? I thought there would at least be fewer of them!"

Leon grimaced. "I don't know how there are so many there, but they're a problem. A big problem. We want to restore Hollow Bastion to what it used to be. Who knows, maybe even something better. We've got a lot to do, but I'm sure we can handle everything. Except...for that..." Leon then pointed farther down, closer to the town gates. "...And that." Dusks stalked toward the town in small groups. The Heartless were just milling about in all directions, at least for now, but the Nobodies were clearly invading.

Sora gave Leon a confident grin. "We can handle 'em!"

"That's good to hear." Leon gave Sora a thumbs up. "Do you know what's going on, then?"

Sora scratched his chin, since he was barely any better informed. "Well... I know part of it. There's this guy, Pete, who's been going around plotting with the Heartless. He supposedly works for Maleficent, but he's not smart enough to tie his own shoes. The ones we need to worry about are the Nobodies."

"And those Organization XIII guys in charge, too..." Goofy added.

"You called...?" An ominous voice of a man echoed from all around the area.

"You're doing well." A second man's voice joined in.

"This calls for a celebration." The first voice suggested, and several antagonistic laughs joined his. At that point, several Dusks and Samurai appeared down the hall, and all the Nobodies began to advance toward the town.

Leon didn't waste any time. He pushed a button attached to his belt, and a pair of iron gates at the end of the hall swung shut. A barrier formed over the sealed exit to prevent the Dusks from slipping through the bars. "That barrier won't hold if they break the gates! Sora, let's go!" Leon drew his gunblade, and Sora summoned the Kingdom Key. Sora took up position by the gates to take out any Nobodies that slipped past Leon's assault.

"This really takes me back. The last time we fought together was in Traverse Town. After you beat me up the first time we met, of course." Sora chattered as he smacked down some rogue Dusks. "Why did you do that, anyway?"

"Probably for the same reason these Nobodies aren't just flying out the window and over the walls: to test you. I recall you got me pretty good in that fight, too." Leon did a spinning slash to knock away a group of Samurai surrounding him.

"Yeah, and that was after fighting Heartless all over town. It was still pretty embarrassing to fall over from exhaustion when I had you on the ropes..." Sora stabbed a Creeper, then swung horizontally from that position to disrupt another unruly Dusk's assault on the gates.

"As fun as this conversation is, I could use some help here!" Leon was surrounded by twice as many Samurai as before, and this time one of them parried his spin attack. This caused the Samurai in question to stop moving for a moment, like any other Nobody whose attack collided with another weapon, but it also let the other Samurai attack Leon.

"Time to try this! Freeze!" Sora shot a small chunk of ice forward like a bullet. The Blizzard Spell knocked down all the Samurai, who were more or less lined up behind Leon, but didn't touch the gunblade wielder at all. Then Sora ran forward and engaged a duel with the Samurai that blocked Leon earlier. In one cut, Sora destroyed all the remaining Nobodies.

"Sora! Sorry we're late!" Donald yelled up some stairs leading to Ansem's old castle.

"Where were you guys, anyway?" Sora wondered, but the ominous voice cut off any reply.

"The Keyblade... A truly marvelous weapon. Were it only in more...capable hands..." Assorted disembodied laughter accompanied the jab at Sora's skills.

"Come on out! Show yourselves!" Sora called toward the ceiling.

"As you wish." The second voice affirmed, and a swirl of Darkness rose up on a rooftop beside the open stairs, revealing its location with the distinctive rushing sound of Darkness in action. A person in a Black Coat was revealed as the shell of Darkness opened up. The whole process took about two seconds. The person standing there raised his arms over his head, and six more teleports brought in more members of Organization XIII.

"Organization XIII!" Goofy called out.

"Thank you, Royal Captain Obvious!" Donald muttered. Goofy either didn't hear it, or ignored him.

"I kind of expected there to be, well, thirteen of them, not seven. Whatever! Now we can settle this!" Sora readied his Keyblade.

The first Nobody shook his hooded head. "What a shame... And here I thought we could be friends." All of the Organization members laughed again, and all of them teleported away.

"Where'd they go?" Sora ran down the stairs to try and look for some kind of clue, however unlikely it might be, but one of the Organization members teleported right into his path.

"Move!" Donald yelled.

"Oopsy-daisy!" The hooded man sarcastically apologized with sweeping gestures, but didn't comply with the command.

"We said, get out of the way!" Sora yelled.

"Now, do you think that's polite, shutting me down like that?" More exaggerated gestures, more fake-upset attitude. For a guy with no heart, he sure knew how to be annoying.

"You gonna cry?" Sora bit back. This wasn't something Sora usually did, but he'd been dealing with Nobodies all day, and they were already more annoying than the Heartless. In a different way, of course.

"As if! What'll you do if I say no?"

"Then we're gonna make you move!" Donald readied his staff to cast Blizzard, and Sora and Goofy followed suit.

"Oh, so this kiddo thinks he's a full-fledged Keyblade wielder? You've certainly got the angry look down. Why don't I remind you how tough the crowd you're dealing with really is?"

"Remind me?" Sora was confused for a second, then redoubled his "angry look." This only made the Black Coated man laugh so hard his shoulders shook.

"That's right! He used to give me that same exact look! Well, if you really have to know, my name's Xigbar. I'm Number II in the Organization. See you later, if you're worth keeping around. You be a good boy now!" Xigbar waved as he started to teleport again.

"Wait!" Donald charged forward, apparently trying to tackle Xigbar, but the Organization member vanished entirely before Donald could even jump at him. Donald still jumped, though, and landed face down on the stone floor with a huge armful of thin air. "Drat! He got away!"

Leon spoke up. "So those were them?"

"Yeah," Sora said. "I don't get it, though. _Who_ gave him the same look?"

"I think he was just trying to confuse ya!" Goofy decided.

Sora agreed. "Well, it's not like anything else he said made sense." Sora turned to address Leon. "Well, I don't know who these Organization people are or what they're planning, but with you guys, Donald, Goofy, Riku, and the King with me, I'm sure I can take 'em!" Sora pulled out his snazzy membership card. "After all, I'm a Hollow Bastion Restoration Committee Honorary Member!"

"Does that last part have anything to do with anything?" Leon wondered, just as the card began to shine. "Guess so, huh?"

Sora's Keyblade suddenly appeared unbidden and forced Sora to hold it in front of him. Light gathered at its tip, and collected on the ground in a crown-shaped, glowing mark. The Membership Card, meanwhile, floated into the air and shot a beam of Light up and away from Sora. The beam struck thin air, revealing a Keyhole. Sora was very familiar with this next part. He swung the Keyblade in several different directions, spun it around his hand, and pointed it at the Keyhole. The Light gathered at the tip of the Keyblade shot out as a white beam, and the sound of a lock clicking was heard as all the flashy lights faded. "Oh... Now I get it. That must have been the gate Yen Sid talked about."

Leon finally found his voice. "Okay, what in the worlds was that all about?"

Sora nodded to himself and turned to Leon. "Sorry to run, Leon, but other worlds are calling! That Keyhole just opened a new Gummi Route. I'll get stronger out there, and when I come back, I'll wipe those Heartless out!"

"You've got time, don't worry. But, Organization XIII... They look tough. Be careful out there." Leon warned.

"No worries!" Sora, Donald, and Goofy went back to the Marketplace to board the Gummi Ship, and waved at their friends from Hollow Bastion as they blasted off.

Goofy spoke up a few minutes before they reached any dangerous parts of the Gummi Route. "Hey, Sora? I've got a question."

"Okay, shoot."

"Why did you spin the Keyblade around so much before unlocking the Keyhole?" Donald started guffawing into his hand.

"Actually, I just felt like it. Didn't it look cooler than just pointing and shooting?" Sora asked Donald specifically.

"Well... Yeah, yeah it did." Donald conceded.

A beeping sound drew Goofy's attention back to his console. "We've got a big ol' warp gate up ahead! I think we'll need to be ready to fight!"

"Alright, let's go!" Sora hit the accelerator and blasted off into the combat zone.

 **VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

 _A/N: Sorry this chapter's so late. FierceDeityMask, you can call off the Assassins now! Axel wants his servants back, anyway._

 _I put in a few more explanations for things canon explains only shakily, if at all, like why Sora's magic skills would be "forgotten" and then come back totally different. As for Rachel, most of you probably wanted her to somehow kick Lambda's can, but there's two reasons why she didn't. First, I have no idea how to play as Rachel, and most of her attacks don't really seem like they could kick anybody's can. That fork doesn't look very sharp. Second, she was just testing Lambda's willpower and how much damage she could dish out when properly motivated, not actually trying to fry Lambda with lightning. She's secure enough in her immortality to go easy on most people, since Izayoi is the only weapon we know that would definitely work. Rachel will probably be back later on. Halloween Town, perhaps? Give your comments and support in reviews!_


	14. Get OUT!

**Silver Linings**

 **Chapter 14: "Get OUT!"**

 _A/N: This took forever, comparatively, because I recently made the mistake of watching RWBY. I was instantly hooked, and I couldn't escape the fandom vortex without leaving behind a set of OCs. They have intro scenes posted on the site, as some of you have already seen. And I've been toying with a scene or three for_ Iron Combat: War in the Air _, a cheap 3DS downloadable game with a lot of jets, a lot of missiles, a pair of cute anime robot girls, and not a lot of storyline. My theoretical scenes (I'm thinking of calling the story "Logic Failure") would try to improve that last point, but working on that would delay this chapter too long. So here we go! Blast off into Stardust Sweep!_

 **VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

 _Blast off! Stardust Sweep!_

"Hold on, here we go!" Sora maneuvered the Gummi Ship cleanly into the Keyhole-shaped rift, passing from the shiny warp tunnel into an asteroid field. The space rocks were far enough apart to not really hinder flight, but a batch of enemy fighters immediately warped in front of the ship. Donald, ever quick on the draw, switched the firing mode to Full Auto (and never switched it back ever again) and pulled a trigger to release a stream of orange shots, laying waste to the line of Nobody-marked craft as they passed in front of the Highwind. Sora maneuvered cleanly around the red shots that were fired back by any surviving Nobodies, trying to keep the line of enemies in Donald's sights. The whole exchange lasted five seconds, and at the end, the score was Highwind: 25, Nobodies: 0. "I wonder how many of those swarms there could be?" Sora wondered aloud as he flew over the surface of a massive asteroid.

The asteroid in question could be considered a moon if there was a planet beneath it, so there was plenty of space for Nobody tanks to line up on the surface as Sora passed over them. Donald realized that the aiming sights of the two Fire-Gs and the Blizzard-G (which shot blue bolts at two angles away from the center of the Fire-G shots) were independent of the Gummi Ship's flight path, which was itself handled separately from the ship's ability to move up, down, left, and right. So, he and Sora worked out a pattern that would strafe the tanks below them without any risk of crashing into the ground. Meanwhile, Goofy plotted the fastest general flight path that would take them through the "Stardust Sweep" combat zone without running into any asteroids or World Walls. This was a surprisingly twisty path, but at least the heroes didn't have to worry about sticking to the path while dodging enemy fire.

Goofy looked up while Sora and Donald were concentrating on wiping out some larger tanks, and alerted them to a yellow drone with two conical extensions and a long tail, hovering a little too close for comfort. Sora rolled the ship left, barely clearing the explosion as the yellow Nobody self-destructed. "Yikes, that was too close!" Goofy held onto his hat until the ship stopped rolling.

"Hey, I bet we could use that!" Sora shot at another drone bomb as it appeared, causing its explosion to destroy a whole stream of the smaller blue fighters. "Yes! It worked!"

"I think we might need a few more bright ideas..." Donald pointed out a large, flying saucer-shaped enemy spinning ahead of them. Suddenly, it stopped spinning and sprouted a head with a Heartless Emblem, a pointless dangling tail, and _six_ weapon-studded arms. "Wak! Not good! Lock on...! Fire!" Donald ceased the constant barrage of Fire-G shots to divert power to the Thunder-G homing lasers, which fired in a burst of three and took out that many arms on the Heartless mecha. Sora pulled some evasive maneuvers to dodge return fire as Donald locked on again, and the second salvo destroyed the other arms. Donald switched to pouring Fire-G shots on the mecha as it jerked around in space, enraged by the loss of its limbs. It wasn't long before it retaliated, launching a stream of red shots even more numerous than Donald's salvo. Sora was forced to swerve in a sort of circle to keep ahead of the shots, throwing off Donald's aim in favor of not getting shot down. "Aw, phooey!" Donald switched back to lasers and got off three salvos in between dizzying rolls of the Gummi Ship. At last, the giant Heartless exploded, leaving behind an orb of Light that encased some kind of Gummi Blocks.

Goofy activated the Highwind's tractor field to draw in their prize, then leaned over into a handy slot beside his seat to throw up. "Gawrsh, I hope we don't have to roll so much all the time!"

"I dunno about you two, but I had a great time," Sora grinned as he steered around some strange Nobodies throwing rings of energy at the ship. It turned out that going through the middle of the ring was the easiest and safest way to avoid them.

Donald whooped as he blasted a few more of them, including one that glowed bright red and gave them another Gummi Block bundle as compensation for the extra hits it took to destroy it. "Yeah, take that!"

Sora chanced taking his eyes off the battlefield to check on Goofy, who didn't seem to be having as much fun. "I'm sure that when we figure out what those Teeny Ship things are, you'll have just as much of a blast using them as we do over here. In the meantime, could you point out incoming fighters?"

"Yeah, I guess I could... Dodge! Giant Heartless incoming!" Goofy suddenly yelped, and Sora snapped back to attention just in time to swerve around the spinning Heartless that drilled through the area the Highwind had just vacated...and all the Nobodies that had just entered the same space. The massive Heartless spun backward to face the Gummi Ship with the ends of its four prongs, which were covered in guns. Sora was forced to almost constantly spin the ship to deflect fire, with Goofy hanging on for dear life while Donald switched back and forth between shots and lasers to hit the "Hunter" (identified by Goofy's console, but what difference did its name make?) in any openings that appeared. At last, the giant Heartless began to erupt in a chain of explosions, leaving behind a Gummi Block orb and a few final purple shots that actually hit, creating the first damage the Highwind had ever sustained. "Aw... Gonna be sick again..."

"I'm with Goofy," Donald moaned.

"No more...barrel rolls...until we get off this thing," Sora agreed as he finally gave in to the extreme motion sickness caused by the constant spinning, although he managed to avoid throwing up.

"Well, it looks like that's the exit," Goofy pointed out a shiny spot in the space ahead as they escaped a tunnel that cut through another huge asteroid, "but it looks like we'll have to blast our way there." There were hundreds of smaller meteoroids between the Highwind and the exit, and at the speed they were traveling, there would be no way to dodge them all.

"I've got it!" Donald proceeded to blast a clear path through the asteroids such that no space rocks ever collided with the Gummi Ship, although there were a few close calls that made Goofy cringe. Faster, faster... Clear! The Highwind sailed through the Keyhole portal and back into normal inter-world space.

"All things considered, that was a pretty good flight. I needed to get used to the controls again, but I think I've got the hang of it now." Sora leaned back in his seat as the autopilot eased the Gummi Ship into orbit around a new world, designated "Beast's Castle."

"Wait, does that mean we could've crashed?!" Donald yelped. He'd thought Sora still had it under control from the last adventure.

"No, the flight path wouldn't let us go off course, remember?" Goofy tried to reason.

"Yeah, but-" Donald was cut off as the Gummi Ship's teleporter sent the heroes down to the new world's surface.

 **VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

 _Meanwhile, in Halloween Town..._

Riku and Lambda stepped out of the Dark Corridor into Halloween Town. The area looked like a normal town square for public gatherings at first glance, but a closer look revealed a fountain with a dragon head that sucked up and spewed the green, acidic "water" in its basin, vents that blasted geysers of poison on anyone who took a wrong step, and a couple free-standing guillotines that were just waiting to decapitate anyone who walked below. Lambda summed it up. "These are some deadly tricks, but where are the treats?"

Riku looked around for any sign of the Heartless, but the only one that popped up was a tiny Creepworm. Small, gray, many-legged, and generally harmless, Creepworms were actually kind of cute, and tended to run away rather than attack. For a Heartless, this was counter-intuitive, but Riku had seen some strange-acting Heartless before. He guessed the Creepworm was holding large sums of munny, and went in with his Soul Eater, but before he reached the little Heartless, it vanished in a blur of motion. "What...?"

"Watch out, Riku!" Lambda rushed in and yanked Riku back, having caught what happened to the poor Creepworm. Most Heartless weren't called "poor" after their demise, but then again, most Heartless weren't swallowed whole by the tentacles of one of their own. The tripartite claws/jaws of five more Tentaclaws burst out of the ground around Riku's previous position, searching for more yummy hearts to eat. Lambda shot a sword at the nearest one, severing its mouth. The remains of the stalk retreated underground, but Lambda's scans indicated it was merely regenerating. "These things are connected somewhere. Let's find the source!"

Riku groaned. "Right. Only problem is, getting around here is almost as confusing as Wonderland. We'll need to know where we're going, or we'll just get lost. Do you have a fix on where it is?" As Lambda continued to scan, Riku chopped up a few more Tentaclaws. For every black tentacle Riku severed, three more would appear. Apparently, the heroes had gotten the attention of whatever giant, cannibalistic Heartless controlled these things.

"Locked on! It's in the manor ruins, past the graveyard. I was taken there in the middle of fighting Xion, so I can make us a Corridor right there."

"Fighting who?" Riku wondered.

"Oh, right. I'm the only one who seems to remember her, but I'll try to get around to fixing everyone's memories someday. Right now, though, we have a giant Heartless covered in cannibalistic tentacles to weed out." Lambda opened the Corridor and pulled Riku through.

 **VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

 _Oogie's Manor Ruins: Defeat the Leechgrave!_

Riku gaped at their target's main body. "Yikes, that thing's huge!" The thing in question, called the _Leechgrave_ by Lambda's apparently-omniscient data link, stood more than three stories tall on four thick, green legs, each covered in nasty spikes. They supported a purple, onion-shaped bulb with a typical yellow-eyed Heartless face, and under that bulb hung a giant coffin with the Heartless Emblem on the lid. The coffin seemed to be chained shut, but Lambda reported that it could easily open wide enough to reveal any nasty surprises the Leechgrave kept in there. A yellow eye could be seen through a hole in the lid, suggesting that whatever was hiding in there was either extremely dangerous, contained the boss' weak point, or both.

As soon as the Leechgrave spotted the intruders in its territory, its bulb began to vibrate, and then it split open to spew sickly green spores in a noxious cloud around itself. Riku and Lambda decided not to risk touching that obviously harmful dust, and instead launched a Dark Firaga and a summoned sword at the coffin. While they did some minor damage with these projectiles, it was only enough to anger the monster.

Five Tentaclaws abruptly sprung from the solid stone ground to loosely surround the two heroes, who took care of the nuisances in short order. Oddly enough, while destroying the Tentaclaws didn't harm the main Leechgrave, the legs and coffin collapsed to the ground in fatigue as soon as the last peripheral tentacle was severed. The spore-filled bulb deflated, and a pair of massive claw-like hands fell out of the coffin, lying limply on the ground. Riku didn't waste the chance, and flashed into melee range to hack away at the coffin and the claws. Anything Riku could reach was swiftly gouged through, but Lambda warned him to back away as the claws began to twitch again. The warning came just in time; the massive scratches the Leechgrave attempted as it raised itself upright missed their chance to lop off Riku's head by inches.

Lambda suddenly felt something slimy wrap around her armored leg, and she realized belatedly that she'd focused too much on Riku's performance. Now she was in an extremely unsavory situation, being pulled into the mouth of a fresh Tentaclaw by its long red tongue. She had just enough time to scream before it swallowed her whole...

 **VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

 _Beast's Castle: Entrance Hall..._

Sora, Donald, and Goofy wandered around the large, gloomy entryway to Beast's Castle. "I wonder who lives here?" Sora wondered aloud, which caused even Goofy to wonder if Sora could possibly be that clueless.

Before either of his companions could state the obvious, the whole castle shook with the force of a massive roar. "Well, Sora, do you recognize that?" Donald asked as a leading question.

"It's the Beast! I guess this is his castle." Sora clapped a fist against his palm, like he'd just solved an intricate mystery.

Goofy chuckled. Part of him was surprised that Sora missed it, and another part was just glad someone else got dinged for acting a little dim once in a while. "A-hyuck! You couldn't tell from the world's name?"

Sora sputtered defensively. "W-well, I didn't think it meant anything! We never met anyone named 'Wonder' in Wonderland, did we? Let's just see if there's anything we can help him with."

"Well, we should look 'round here first," Goofy pointed out. "We need ta figure out which doors lead where."

"Heartless!" Donald yelped, pointing out a flattened Shadow. The weak Pureblood slipped under a side door that had been left slightly ajar. The heroes ran after it, assuming it was stalking someone who lived here.

 **VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

 _Beast's Castle: Parlor..._

The door opened into a very nice parlor with a warm fire burning in an expensive fireplace. The fancy decor didn't really seem like the Beast's style, but there were deep scratches on the wooden table and shreds in the wallpaper, showing the fallout from one of his epic temper tantrums. Overall, though, the room didn't seem all that dangerous... And the Shadow Donald had chased in here was nowhere to be seen.

Donald stepped further into the room, looking left and right for an ambush. "Where did that little guy go...?" The magician suddenly got distracted by a glowing object on a table in the corner. It was a round glass case, and inside was a single red rose, blooming beautifully despite the lack of soil or water. As it floated upright in space, plainly a result (or a source) of some powerful magic, it cast a muted pink glow over everything nearby. As Donald approached, enthralled as usual by shiny objects, he almost tripped over the Shadow, which had suddenly pulled out of the ground in front of him. "Wak! Found it!"

"Found some more!" Goofy called out. The heroes had walked right into an ambush, and were now surrounded by dozens of Shadows. Under normal circumstances, these foes would be a breeze to defeat, but they just kept coming in droves.

"Okay," Sora huffed after smacking down a twentieth Shadow, "I've seen plenty of Heartless ambushes, but they tend to just pop up out of nowhere. Heartless shouldn't be smart enough to lead us into a trap."

"Ya think someone might be controlling 'em?" Goofy asked, as he repelled a leaping slash with his shield.

"It doesn't matter who did it, if we can't end these things! Somebody help us!" Donald yelled as loud as he could.

Almost immediately, his plea was answered by the parlor door banging open. Filling the doorway was a very angry Beast. As the brown-furred master of the castle stomped into the room, several Heartless tried to leap at him, but they were smashed into walls with no effort. The Beast didn't even have to look at the monsters he was crushing, and this time, the instantly defeated Shadows were not replaced.

Sora cheered and waved at their savior. "Just in time!" The Beast didn't respond, but instead backhanded Sora across the room with as much ease as he had to the Shadows.

"Hey!" Donald and Goofy tried to protest, but were batted aside. The Beast paid no heed to the damage, focused on scooping up the glass-encased rose, cradling the item with a sudden gentleness that starkly contrasted his treatment of everyone and everything else.

"Hey, Beast, what's wrong?" Sora tried to place a hand on the Beast's shoulder, but stopped short as waves of burning red energy began to rise from the purple-caped creature's fur. The Beast's aura of pure, tangible anger flared up like an explosion as he suddenly roared right in Sora's ear, knocking the Keyblade wielder over with the sheer force of his voice. The flames of his rage then mostly dissipated as he carried the rose out of the room without uttering a single word of explanation. Sora picked himself off the ground, digging a finger in his ear to try and restore his hearing. "What's his deal? We've got to find out what happened to him." Brushing dust off of his pants, Sora led the party back to the entrance hall.

 **VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

 _Back in the Entrance Hall..._

Donald rushed ahead suddenly, making a beeline for the sweeping staircase that led to the East Wing. "I could have sworn I saw a lady up there..." Donald frowned at the doorway atop the stairs.

Goofy reasoned, "Well, if this castle belongs to the Beast, then that lady must've been Belle, right?"

Sora agreed. "Let's talk to her. Maybe she knows what's wrong with the Beast." The trio climbed the stairs and walked down the hallway in the East Wing, casting nervous glances at the intimidating gargoyle statues lining the hall. They looked a little _too_ life-like...

Soon, the heroes could make out muffled sobbing from the one door at the end of the hall. "I'll handle this!" Donald wound up and charged at the door before the other two could stop him. Maybe he expected the door to be locked, or maybe he thought some monstrous Heartless was attacking Belle on the other side, but the door swung instantly out of the way, as though consciously avoiding Donald's rush. He plowed through empty air, overbalanced, and toppled into Belle's bedroom. Belle, of course, noticed the ruckus instantly, and her tears stopped as she gasped and scooped Donald into a tight hug.

"Donald, it's so good to see you again!" Belle looked over her captive's shoulder, and gasped again at, "Sora, Goofy! Why are you here?"

Meanwhile, Donald struggled against the suffocating embrace, repeatedly emitting muffled cries of "Put me down! Put me down!" Belle suddenly realized how tightly she'd been hugging the poor duck, and release him all at once.

"Oops! Sorry!" Donald just groaned incoherently, his eyes spinning in two different directions as he recovered some of his lost oxygen and figured out which way was up.

Sora replied for him, "It's okay. We were just passing through, looking for problems with Heartless or Nobodies. We also met the Beast, but he didn't seem to recognize us."

Belle's mood instantly fell. "Oh, yes. He's been like that all day and yesterday. He won't talk to me, and he locked up all his servants in the dungeon!"

"What?! Why would he do that?" Sora yelped. Sure, the Beast had enough anger issues for a two-year subscription, but back in Hollow Bastion, he'd always channeled it into attacks against the real problems. He'd always _cared_ , in his own stubborn way. Heck, the only reason he was at Hollow Bastion instead of ending up in Traverse Town or worse was because he'd _willed_ himself there for the sole purpose of saving Belle. How could such focused heroism turn into directionless rage like this?

"I don't know, but I hope he gets better soon," Belle murmured sadly. Then she got an idea. "Hey, while you're here, could you free the servants from the dungeon in the West Wing? It's the best idea I've got right now."

"Sure thing!" Sora grinned. "That's what the Keyblade does, after all!"

"That's wonderful!" Belle cheered. Then she looked a bit worried. "Just be careful out there. And don't be fooled by the way the servants look; I don't think they're what you're expecting."

"No problem!" Sora waved as he led the way back out of the bedroom.

"I wonder what Belle meant by that...?" Goofy mumbled as they walked back down the hallway.

"Whatever she meant, it can't be weirder than Wonderland, can it?" Sora pointed out.

"Don't jinx it!" Donald yelped. Too late; the Gargoyle Knights along the wall of the hallway broke free of the floor and attacked. They proved to be immune to Donald Thunder and Sora's Blizzard spell, but took damage from the party's weapons well enough. Goofy blocked a diving stab from one of them, and the repelled Gargoyle knight slumped over. A clump of Darkness pushed partway out of its head, and Sora realized that the statue was being possessed by that Heartless. He took a quick guess at what to do, and fired the Keyblade's unlocking beam at the Possessor, evicting it from the statue. The Gargoyle Knight crumbled to dust, and the Possessor floated away into the ceiling. Goofy smashed another one normally, and that one's Possessor also escaped.

After Sora smashed the final Gargoyle Knight, he dismissed the Keyblade. "I wonder where those Heartless went? I hope they don't come back to bug us later..."

Donald practically threw a fit. "I told you so! Stop asking whether it can get worse! Asking that _makes_ it worse!"

"Oh. Oops. I'll just keep my mouth shut then..." Sora rubbed the back of his neck in embarrassment, but quickly composed himself and led the way to the West Wing.

 **VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

 _Oogie's Manor Ruins: Defeat the Leechgrave quickly!_

Riku whipped around when Lambda cried out, and saw a grotesque bulge travel down the stalk of a Tentaclaw. Riku's vision went red, and before he realized what was happening, all the Tentaclaws were destroyed, and the Leechgrave's coffin lay splintered under his repeated bashes. The giant Heartless collapsed for good, and all across Halloween Town, Tentaclaws melted into the ground.

Riku didn't care about how many people (and Heartless) he'd just saved, though. As he ran out of targets, the all-consuming rage he'd unleashed on the monster fell away, leaving a pit of choking despair. Lambda was gone, eaten by this ugly monster in the process of saving the _Heartless_. Riku fell to his knees and pounded the ground while he cried his eyes out.

After a few seconds of bawling that he didn't care if anyone saw, Riku became aware of a strange sloshing sound from the Leechgrave's corpse, which had yet to disappear. Riku growled and readied his sword. "Dammit, why won't you just die alread-" The deflated bulb suddenly exploded, and Lambda stumbled out of it. She was covered in green gunk, her hair was a mess, and Riku couldn't imagine a more beautiful sight. He ran to meet her, but before he could hug her, she slumped to the side and fell over. Her armor vanished. "No... The poison?" Riku started to panic, but he knew he could still save her. He had no Elixirs, he couldn't cast Cure or Esuna, and he (ironically) couldn't contact Mickey without Lambda's help, but there was a resident of this world who he was certain could purge the toxins from his girlfriend. He scooped her up, trying to ignore her labored breathing, and formed a Dark Corridor to Doctor Finkelstein's lab.

 **VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

 _Doctor Finkelstein's Laboratory..._

As soon as Riku emerged from the portal, he shouted, "Doctor Finkelstein! You've got to help Lambda!"

"Who dares disrupt my thinking? I'm in the middle of an experiment!" The pale-skinned scientist didn't swivel his wheelchair around yet, but he stopped rubbing his brain and closed the lid on his skull, so Riku at least had his attention.

"I'm Riku. Quick, can you purge the poison from Lambda? She doesn't have much time!"

Doctor Finkelstein swiveled around to face Riku, but his goggles focused entirely on Lambda. "Ah, what an impressive device you have there! I'll have to take a look. Lay her on the table."

Riku did so, but warned, "Don't cut her open or anything. I just need to get the Leechgrave poison out of her."

The doctor scoffed at Riku's concern. "Oh, is that all? I was hoping for a challenge! Ever since those Tentaclaws started popping up, I've been waiting to get a chance to test this antidote!" He pulled a vial of bubbling green liquid from a pocket on his wheelchair, and immediately tipped the questionable fluid down Lambda's throat.

"Are you sure that'll..." Riku started to say.

"Of course I'm sure! My formula is perfect! And this time I mean it! There aren't any holes in the theory, like in that failed heart I produced last year! Look, it's already working!" Indeed, the color began to return to Lambda's cheeks as Riku watched, and Doctor Finkelstein set to work wiping the green gunk off of her with a black rag. Soon, Lambda's breathing went back to normal.

Riku heaved a sigh of relief. "Thank you, Doctor! I won't forget this. How much does it cost?"

"Don't bother paying me back. Science is its own reward! You just let me test an experimental antidote, after all!"

Riku gaped at him. "You mean it might _not_ have worked?"

Doctor Finkelstein waved away Riku's accusation of malpractice with a black-gloved hand. "Of _course_ it was going to work! My designs are always perfect! Now take that amazing construct out of my lab before I'm tempted to reverse-engineer it." Riku got the hint, scooped up Lambda, and made a hasty retreat through the lab's undersized door.

 **VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

 _Halloween Town Square..._

Riku looked down as Lambda finally stirred awake. She blinked a few times and looked up. "Riku...? What happened? The last thing I remember is something grabbing my leg."

"You got eaten by a Tentaclaw, and I sort of went nuts on the Leechgrave. I was so sure you were gone, but then you broke out of it yourself, and I was so glad! Its spores poisoned you, though, and you fell unconscious, so I took you to a...doctor here to get you healed. It's only been a few minutes since that."

"Then that's another one I owe you, Riku! I hope we're still even." Lambda smiled, then motioned to be set down. As soon as she was standing upright, Riku crushed her in a hug and forcefully kissed her right on the lips.

"Just don't scare me like that again..." Riku released Lambda from the squeeze, holding onto only her arms.

Lambda smiled up at him. "I'll do my best. I guess you were right earlier, though. Death threats do speed up a relationship."

Riku glared in a threat that was only half-joking. "I hope that doesn't mean you'll do it again on purpose."

Lambda grinned. "Of course not, dear! The whole ordeal was disgusting."

Riku froze up. "...D-dear?"

Lambda smiled in a way that was half joking, half affectionate. "Well, I wanted a title that says 'I love you', but that might have been a bit too sappy..." She adopted a thoughtful expression as she started running a search of her thesaurus for better terms. She'd just pushed past "beloved" and "devout" (too formal...unrelated...) when Riku grabbed her arm and tugged her into a Dark Corridor.

"If you can joke like that, you're fine. Let's get moving... Dear." Riku grumbled under his breath. Before the Darkness covered them, Lambda caught a glimpse of him giving her his own warm smile. It wouldn't be until much later that she would realize Riku's real face was superimposed over Ansem's in her view, but for now she appreciated the lengths her boyfriend was willing to go to protect her, and vowed to help him in return.

 **VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

 _Beast's Castle: The West Wing..._

Stepping into the West Wing, Sora's party was immediately struck by how different it looked from the rest of the castle. It had warm brown walls and red carpets, and the halls were much higher and more spacious. Odd, then, that this was the path to the dungeons.

Sora reached the end of the hall and didn't see any doors labeled "Dungeon" or otherwise in plain sight. A staircase ascended to what was probably the Beast's master bedroom (the idea that the Beast owned the whole castle was taking some time to sink in), but it was blocked by suits of armor. Unlike the Gargoyle Knights, these suits didn't attack, but they blocked every effort Sora made to get past them, like the most effective blitzball goalies of all time. Their shields even repelled the Keyblade, though the armor didn't use their long spears to strike back.

Finally, Goofy decided to just ask nicely. "Um, excuse us, sirs, but do you know which way leads to the dungeon?" The armors didn't speak, but they did point at the wall opposite the stairs, specifically at a wardrobe leaning there all by itself.

Sora facepalmed. "Man, now I feel stupid."

Donald grumbled, "I _told_ you there was something off about that wardrobe!"

Goofy pointed out, "You can't solve every problem by whackin' it on the head, ya know." He rubbed a spot where he often got whacked on the head, to demonstrate that repeated head injuries hadn't stopped the Captain of the King's Royal Knights from fighting the forces of Darkness with nothing but a shield. Which, now that he thought about it, sort of made Goofy himself a problem, but oh well. He couldn't be expected to be the smart one every time, either.

"I get the picture." Sora moved over to the wardrobe and shoved it aside, revealing a green door. "Now, let's go!"

"Do you _mind?_ " came a disgruntled female voice from Sora's left, right before something large and wooden smacked him off his feet. He looked up from the floor just in time to see the Wardrobe (now clearly deserving of a capital letter for _her_ name) scoot back into place in front of the door, and her human-like face disappeared as she fell back asleep.

"What in the world...?" Sora yelped, but quieted down as the Wardrobe snorted in her sleep. He whispered, "Okay, I guess we have to move her without waking her. I can do it if I just push slo-"

"WHAT THE BLEEP?!" The new voice from directly above Sora's head was notable for several reasons. First, it was one none of those present had heard before. Second, it was LOUD. Third, it hadn't used any curses; the large, muscular man who fell on Sora's head actually said the word "bleep." The man jumped to his feet with a cry of "Ukemi!" Then he looked around, taking in the unfamiliar baroque architecture, the strange creatures standing nearby, gasping at something beneath him...and Sora, who was still pinned under his boots. "Oh! My apologies, child! I will remove myself from your back now. Jump!" The man called out unnecessarily as he hopped off Sora's back and allowed the Keyblade wielder to stand up. He stood to best show off his muscular chest, which was left uncovered by the green sleeves and padded shoulders he wore, which couldn't really be called a shirt. He also wore some baggy, green pants, metal bracers that covered his wrists, and a bright red scarf. In terms of weapons, he only visibly carried an enormous nail, like one that would be used in woodcraft, except it was _exactly_ fifty-five inches long, wrapped in another red scarf just below the head of the nail, and it stuck to his back through some unknown force that reminded Sora of Cloud's Buster Sword. His brown hair was somewhat spiky, but unlike Sora's untameable explosion of hair, the boisterous man's hairdo seemed to be deliberately gelled in place (and Sora's natural spikes were still spikier).

"I'm not a kid! My name's Sora! Where did you even come from... Um... Whoever you are?" Sora asked while rubbing his sore back, unfortunately setting himself up for the incoming intro speech.

"You ask of my origins? I, BANG SHISHIGAMI, am a ninja of the Shishigami Clan, and a hero of love and justice who hails from the ill-fated lands of Ikaruga! Even now I seek to ease my people's pain and bring the wretched Jin Kisaragi to face his punishment under the burning hammer of justice!" Bang Shishigami (who will be henceforth referred to only by his full name) shouted while thrusting his finger at a random wall.

Sora was going to ask him to please tone down the volume, but the Wardrobe beat the boy to it. "I was _just_ about to settle into a nice, long nap, when I was so _rudely_ interrupted. It looked like this boy had learned his lesson and I might get some well-deserved beauty rest, but no-o-oo! An even more loud-mouthed brute had to actually fall out of the ceiling! Well, since I'm obviously never going to actually get any sleep, what are you doing _here_ , and not in this 'Ikaruga' place?"

Bang Shishigami, for once in his life, was unable to form a long-winded reply to these accusations. Instead, he turned to Sora, the most normal-looking person in the area (and that was stretching the definition of "normal" quite a bit). He spoke in what he clearly thought was a whisper, complete with a cupped hand to try and muffle the noise in the Wardrobe's direction. "Is that wardrobe...talking to me?"

"That's what I was going to ask before you showed up. But yeah, she is," Sora whispered back while clearing some earwax that Bang Shishigami had knocked loose with his so-called whispering. "I've seen a lot of crazy things, but this is at least third place. You're second place, by the way."

It fell to Goofy to once again be the voice of reason. "Excuse me, ma'am, but can we get through that door? We were trying to rescue some servants from the dungeon."

The Wardrobe immediately dropped her attitude of drowsy grumpiness. "Oh, why didn't you just say so? Yes, go right on through. The dungeon is dark and damp. Certainly no place for a clock!"

"Huh?" Sora wondered. "A clock?"

"You'll see soon enough. I'm counting on you, dears! I'll just be on my way; I've got to check on Belle!" The Wardrobe hopped down the hall, leaving everyone even more confused than before.

Bang Shishigami scratched his head for a moment. "My mind is overwhelmed, but... You say there are wrongly-imprisoned innocents through this door? We must rescue them!"

Donald was opposed to letting Bang Shishigami tag along, to say the least. "Okay, two things. One, stop saying redundant things. Two, who said you get to come with us? We have it covered just fine!" Donald stomped over and yanked open the door, letting a cold draft blow through.

"What harm could he do?" Sora asked. "We don't know if the Beast put any guards in the way."

Bang Shishigami jumped on the wrong part of Sora's argument. "To what nefarious beast do you refer? I, BANG SHISHIGAMI, will smite this Beast in the name of love and justice!" Bang Shishigami punctuated his declaration with another manly finger point at nothing in particular.

"Okay, now I get what you're saying, Donald," Sora muttered as an aside before trying to reason with the new loudmouth. As if Donald wasn't loud enough, and to make matters worse the new guy smelled like he didn't know what a shower was. At least the Gummi Ship cleaned Sora and co. of sweat and other contaminants whenever they boarded, to prevent diseases from spreading between worlds. What was this guy's excuse? Anyway, "The Beast is actually a friend of ours. We're trying to figure out why he changed all of a sudden, and our best lead right now is getting his servants out of the dungeon."

"These servants serve the Beast? Does that mean this is the Beast's castle?" Bang Shishigami tried to puzzle out the strange situation.

"That's what the castle's called, yep!" Goofy confirmed. "Something doesn't add up, though. If the Beast was really mad at his servants, he would have smashed them, not locked them up. He doesn't keep people around if he doesn't like them. So maybe he's not too far gone after all!"

"And you two! Are you beastkin of some sort?" Bang suddenly noticed the anthropomorphic dog and duck, having sort of glossed over their presence in his mind ever since arriving.

"Are we _what?_ " Donald asked suspiciously.

"Nope, we're Donald and Goofy!" Goofy stated, just in case it wasn't obvious.

"I don't think I've ever heard that word before," Sora noted. "Are you from some other world?"

Bang Shishigami went deep into thought, or at least gave an exaggerated impression of doing so. "As preposterous as that theory sounds, it would explain many things. But if I have indeed fallen into a completely different world, how did I do so? More importantly, how will I return? The people of Ikaruga need my fists!"

The Wardrobe yelled from around the corner. "That's what I was asking!" Apparently she'd decided not to leave just yet in favor of gathering gossip material for when her friends were freed.

Goofy thought over the events since the large, sweaty man arrived. "Well, you did fall from the ceiling. Maybe there's something up... Whoa-oh!" Goofy pointed up at the distortion that had dropped Bang Shishigami into the room.

"What in the world...worlds...is that?!" Bang Shishigami hollered.

Donald took a look at it. "It looks like a portal of some kind. You could probably just jump back through." He might not be _quite_ on the level of Merlin, but he didn't have the title of official Royal Magician for nothing. He gauged the height of the portal, which was floating several meters off the ground. "Can you jump that high?"

Bang barked out a laugh. "Ha! Ha, I say! Even if I, BANG SHISHIGAMI, could not jump to that height, which I most certainly can, I can simply run up the wall! After all, I am a ninja! Toh!" Bang Shishigami did indeed jump halfway to the portal, air-dash to the wall, run straight up the wall, and leap off back through the rift, leaving Sora to re-evaluate the man's skills and claims.

"Between that guy and Yuffie, I can't tell if they have no idea what a ninja is, or if I'm the one who was taught wrong." Sora shook his head and turned back toward the dungeon, but had to whip back around as another strange man thumped to the ground.

"Aw, man! Bang could've at least told me this thing would drop me ten feet straight down!" The newcomer grumbled with a good-natured sigh as he stood up and brushed off his expensive clothes. He wore a white dress shirt with a few of the top buttons open, black pants, and a black coat that seemed to function as more of a cape tied around his neck. He also wore several belts, some of which were merely cosmetic representations of how tough he was. He probably didn't need the extra belts for that boast, since the weapon magically adhered to _this_ stranger's back was an enormous, rectangular, black sword with red markings outlining the edges, a sword slightly larger in all dimensions than even Cloud's Buster Sword. Sora never thought he'd see the day Cloud's sword could look small. The man regarded Sora and co. with sharp eyes that wouldn't be out of place on a predator of some sort, though Sora could sort of tell that his friendly grin was genuine. The swordsman flipped one of his longish black locks out of his face and asked, "Okay, which one of you three is the Keyblade wielder?"

Sora summoned the Kingdom Key and took up a fighting stance. "How many random people are going to show up and try to take the Keyblade from me before I'm done with these journeys? It's getting really old!"

The newcomer waved his hands in a gesture of apology. "Whoa, whoa! I'm not here to _take_ your Keyblade, kid. I just need you to shoot that Time Break up there with it when I give the signal."

"I'm not a kid! I'm Sora!" Sora repeated. "And who are you, anyway?"

"I go by many names," the man coolly bragged. "Kagura, Kagura the Black Knight, Kagura Mutsuki, heir to the most powerful noble family in the Duodecim, Lady Killer, Kagura the Almighty Sexiest, and Beer Pong Champion. The second-to-last one depends on who you ask. But none of those really matter here, and I'm trying to make sure it stays that way."

"Okay... What's a Time Break?"

Kagura pointed over his head. "That rip up there. You know, the one that's slowly expanding and will eventually gobble up both our universes? I'm especially miffed at this one, because it showed up and dumped Bang here right when I was trying to explain stuff to him. Now we might have to postpone that talk, although I'm sure my baby here," Kagura patted his massive sword, "will get through his thick skull if he refuses to listen again. But listen to me, prattling on about top secret rebellions...that you _never. Heard. About!_ " Kagura made sure to emphasize that last part, putting a finger to his lips and everything. Then he pulled a small device out of a pocket on his coat (his pants were too tight to comfortably put things in the pockets) and called, "Kokonoe, I've found that Sora kid you mentioned. Yeah, just let me jump back through before you fire up Tager's newest toy. Over." Kagura replaced the walkie-talkie and addressed Sora again. "When you see the Time Break get all rainbow-y, lock it with the Keyblade. You might run into more of these things later, but my group will be there to help you shut them on our end. Quick and steady, now. Maybe it's the hair, but you look like someone who puts in a lot of extra flashy moves. Don't spin around too much, or you'll miss the window." Then Kagura jumped straight up into the air and sailed through the Time Break.

"Well, I guess we can stick around for a few seconds." Sure enough, the Time Break started glowing, and Sora fired off the Keyblade's lock-breaking/making beam, causing the distortion to shrink down to nothing. "Hopefully now we can get those servants free without getting distracted again." Now back on track, Sora led the way down into the dungeon.

 **VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

 _Beast's Castle: Dungeon Hall: Defeat the Thresholder!_

The next room wasn't the dungeon proper, but a sort of antechamber. It was appropriately gloomy and unkempt, with various supplies and furniture piled up by the walls. The dungeon itself was behind a massive stone door carved with a highly detailed picture of twin monsters who were either punching each other or doing a brofist. Either way, Sora didn't like the feeling he got from the doors, remembering the Gargoyle Knights from earlier.

Sure enough, when Donald tried to open the doors, the stone eyes of the beasts glowed yellow. Darkness flowed over the door, knocking Donald's hand away, and he barely stumbled out of range before the massive joined fists of the _Thresholder_ could smash him flat.

"I knew it..." Sora observed the Thresholder's combat moves, which seemed to mostly involve swinging their massive, stretchy arms around to keep enemies away. It was a fitting tactic for a door guard stuck to a door, but perhaps they weren't so tough against fighters who could get up close and personal. Sora motioned to Goofy to cover him as the two charged into melee range, and Goofy blocked a massive fist on the way in, allowing Sora to strike at the monsters. A few random swings told Sora that the most vulnerable part of the monsters was the brofist that still blocked access to the keyhole of the door, making it obvious what Sora had to do: loosen their grip and Release the Possessor animating the beasts.

Sora got in several mighty combos, but eventually the Thresholder combined its efforts to blast Sora and Goofy back across the room with a wave of concussive force. Sora smacked into the wall beside the entrance, but Goofy landed on the sword of a Gargoyle Knight that had been summoned behind them to assist the boss Heartless. "GOOFY!" Of all the nasty wounds Goofy had suffered over the course of their adventures, this impalement was definitely the worst. Sora ran through several options that might save Goofy before his heart was stolen. Cure? Didn't work anymore. Potion? Might not be enough, plus it would take too long, and Goofy had most of the items anyway. What was left...?

 _"These aren't ordinary garments. They have very special powers."_

Perfect! "Goofy, give me strength!" Sora focused on Goofy, drawing his friend's power into himself. Goofy turned into a stream of red Light that rushed into Sora's jacket, and Sora exploded in a white flash as the Drive Form engaged. Valor Sora rushed forward to destroy the Gargoyles, including the ax-wielding Gargoyle Warrior that was after Donald. With an overhead smash of two Keyblades, Sora released a wave of red power that obliterated the magic-resistant Heartless. The power fueling this "Brave Shot" move was sheer fighting spirit; no elemental resistance would matter against it. Sora left Donald with a Potion, the only one Sora kept on him; it seemed that fusing with Goofy didn't transfer his item stock to Sora. "Here, use this. We're gonna finish this fight!"

Valor Sora rushed back into the fray against the Thresholder, running fully twice as fast as he did normally. The giant monster wilted under the dual-wielding Keyblade assault, and its two torsos slumped over, its hands dropping away from the Keyhole. Sora pointed the Star Seeker in his left hand at the Keyhole and fired a Release beam, launching a huge Possessor out into the room.

Unlike with the Gargoyle Knights, Thresholder didn't disintegrate immediately when the Possessor was released, though it did freeze in place and turn back to stone. Meanwhile, that Possessor slowly tried to float back to its host. Valor Sora didn't let it; the Possessor was powerless and harmless out here, and couldn't withstand the massive aerial combos Sora loosed on it. As the Possessor's true, vaporous body dissipated, the Thresholder vanished as well, leaving an unlocked, stone door with no carvings besides slight indentations where the beasts had once been.

Sora spun his Kingdom Key around one hand while holding Star Seeker over his shoulder, an ad-hoc victory pose for this new dual-wielding style. "I did it! _We_ did it!" Of course, that was when the Drive Form reached its limit, and there was a white flash over Sora and a red flash to his right as Goofy reappeared.

"Phew!" Goofy wiped his forehead. "That really tuckered me out! But it was worth it!"

"No kidding!" Sora grinned. "That was awesome! I can't wait until we can do it again!"

"Aw, when will I get a Drive Form?" Donald groaned.

"We'll make sure to visit your castle and figure that out, just as soon as we open a Gummi Route there," Sora assured the mage, "but we do need to free those servants. I sure hope they're actually back there, or I'd feel pretty silly about putting so much into that fight."

Reminded of the things they'd actually spent on the fight, Goofy passed Sora a replacement Potion. Sora thanked him and hauled open the massive door. Thankfully, the hinges were in good repair.

 **VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

 _Beast's Castle: Dungeon..._

Unfortunately, the small room seemed to be empty of any people. There was an assortment of appliances littered around the room, but given the mess outside, it didn't look very important. Sora called out, "Hello? Is there anyone in here?"

"I wonder if this is the right place," Goofy mumbled.

"You mean, there's no one to rescue?" Donald asked.

"Did someone just say 'rescue?'" A new, heavily accented voice called out from somewhere in the room.

"Shh! It might be _them._ " A new voice told the first.

"Oh, they seem like alright sorts to me." The first random appliance to move was a white china teapot, who hopped over to the trio of jailbreaking heroes. "Hello, dearies! Mrs. Potts, at your service!"

"WHAAAT?" Donald yelped. Okay, maybe a talking teapot wasn't weirder than Wonderland, but this had to at least tie the score.

"Oh, don't worry, dears! We're all nice folks. Cogsworth! Lumiere! Chip! We're saved! Come greet our guests!"

"It is entirely my job to direct the other servants as you rec-" Cogsworth, the talking clock, was cut off by Donald picking him up around the middle and trying to see how he worked. "Put me down, you ruffian! Put me-" He was cut off again by being vigorously shaken up and down.

"Were you always like this?" Goofy asked.

"Oh, not at all. It was the enchantress... Put me down, I say! I am self-winding, sir!" Cogsworth tried to slap at Donald's fingers.

"Donald, put him down so we can hear the story." Sora pushed Donald's hand down, coaxing him to lower Cogsworth to the ground and let go.

"Okay, yes, where was I? Oh right," Cogsworth began, then lowered his tone to better fit a spooky story. "It was a dark and stormy night. An old beggar woman came to the castle. Back then, the prince of the castle, that is to say, the Beast-"

"The Beast is a prince?" 

"The prince is the Beast?" It was hard to tell exactly who'd said what, but Cogsworth took it in stride.

"Yes, indeed, but I was getting to that. The prince was selfish, and refused to allow the beggar woman to take shelter in the castle. It turned out she was merely concealing her true appearance as a beautiful enchantress, and though the prince cried for mercy, she took no more pity on him than he had on her. She cursed the prince, the castle, and all the servants into these forms."

"Let's get the enchantress!" Donald called out.

"No, that will not do." Lumiere the candelabra/maitre d' took up the tale. "The enchantress told the Beast that the only way to break the spell would be if he learned to love, and found love in return. She left him with an enchanted rose, which would bloom for eighteen years. If he can fall in love before the last petal falls, the spell will be broken!" Lumiere's mood (and candle flames) dimmed for the next part. "But as you might expect, there are few who can see deep enough past the appearances to ever have a chance to love our Master. This is why Belle is so important! But whatever you do, do not tell Belle any of this. I fear if she knew, her budding love for the Master would turn to mere pity, and all hope would be lost."

"I promise." Sora put a hand on his chin to think. "But the way the Beast is now, they're not going to talk to each other. We need to snap him out of it somehow."

"But how can we get the Beast to wake up?" Goofy asked.

Cogsworth suddenly jumped in the air. "I've got it!" At the same time, he released an ear-piercing alarm, causing everyone in the room to clutch their heads. "You see? No one could fail to wake up after my alarm! At the very least, it will create an opening to bring the Master to his senses."

"Excellent idea, Cogsworth! Perhaps you're useful for something after all!" Lumiere poked the clock/concierge with an unlit candle.

"Oh, you waxy-eared mongrel! I am always useful!" The clock started chasing the candle in circles.

Mrs. Potts spouted steam with a shrill whistle. "That's enough, you two. We have a lot to do! We still have to reach the Master's chambers, and the armor suits in the way answer to the Master first and us second."

"Ah, not a problem! We still have the secret passage from the antechamber to this very room!"

"I hope it's a shortcut," Goofy mumbled. The faster they got this done, the better the results for everyone.

Lumiere hesitated. "Ah... That depends on what you mean by 'short.' By distance, it would be faster to go up the stairs the normal way. But in terms of obstacles in our path, it will be easier to use the passage than to get through those guards."

"Well, it's about time something was easy around here!" Donald cheered.

Cogsworth coughed. "We claim it will be easier, but only because it is possible in the first place. It will still be fairly difficult to get the secret entrance open. Follow me." The clock waddled and bounced up to a walkway over the entrance to the antechamber, and when everyone followed, he cleared his throat to another pair of armor suits. "Ahem! Allow our guests to pass!" The guards stepped aside and snapped to attention, and Cogsworth gestured for them to be at ease as the last of the group passed through.

 **VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

 _Beast's Castle: Secret Passage..._

"Okay, so where's this secret passage? I don't see another door." Sora wondered.

"It's at the end of this hall, which curves back and forth." Lumiere replied. "But it would also be a terrible secret entrance if it appeared to be one, no? There are some mechanisms we must use to open the way. Cogsworth, if you would, pull the lever!"

"*Grumble, grumble...*" Cogsworth jumped up to a crank on the wall, groaning all the way, and his weight pulled it from the left side to straight down. A lantern burning with an obviously unnatural black flame descended from high on the ceiling to the level of our heroes. "The thing to do is to light all four lanterns!" Cogsworth called in a strained voice.

"Strange, the lanterns are already burning! But this kind of flame will not help us. We must remove it first," Lumiere mused.

"Can Mrs. Potts just splash water on it?" Donald asked.

"It won't be enough to quench this flame of Darkness," Mrs. Potts replied. "But if we also use the Power of Light..."

"That's easy! I'll use the Keyblade!" Sora summoned the Kingdom Key to demonstrate. Together, Mrs. Potts and Sora doused the black flame, and Lumiere replaced it with a normal one. "Done!"

"But again, there is more," Lumiere added, to the groans of the heroes, "do you truly expect Cogsworth to hang from that lever forever?"

"You insolent...! I could do chin-ups from this lever all day!" Cogsworth's tone didn't match his boasts, though. He was struggling to keep his grip.

"Perhaps," Lumiere teased, "but in the...unlikely event that Cogsworth grows tired and falls off, the lanterns will rise to the ceiling again, and we must wait until he regains his strength to continue."

"Then go! And be quick about it!" Cogsworth yelled. The group went.

Luckily, there were no Heartless in the corridor. The group made short work of the lanterns, and Sora's Keyblade made short work of the flimsy crates in the way of the smaller members of the group. The last lantern was lit just as Cogsworth's strength gave out, and the heroes watched the newly-lit lanterns rise to the ceiling.

"I don't see any secret passage." Donald pointed out.

Mrs. Potts nodded. "No problem! Sora, if you would push that block on the wall, the one that now sticks out, the secret entrance will open." Sora did so, and a section of the stone wall next to the secret switch slid down into the floor. Donald immediately popped around the new corner, and looted a treasure chest in the shadows of the hallway behind the secret door. Mrs. Potts grinned. "Ah, so that's where that box went! We don't really need the Hi-Potion, feel free to take it as a souvenir!" The treasure chest then _purred_ and rubbed up against Donald's legs, before bouncing up the stairs and out of sight.

"Was that a cat once?" Donald asked nobody in particular. Nobody answered. The servants thought it was obvious, and his friends didn't want to trigger Donald's bizarre phobia that cropped up after dealing with Sabor in Deep Jungle.

"The Master's chambers are straight ahead! I will go with you to assist... But give me a few days to rest first." Cogsworth weakly proclaimed from his position on his back, way at the start of the hall.

"Oh man, I almost forgot!" Sora facepalmed. He led the group back to Cogsworth. "We don't really have a few days to wait... I wonder if I could give him a boost with the Keyblade?" Sora focused his mana. The spells he knew didn't work, and the spells that worked wouldn't help, so he just sort of made up his own "Charge" spell that released globes of Light to restore Cogsworth's stamina. It worked beautifully, and Cogsworth was up and about in seconds. "Phew! It worked! And it didn't explode! I don't think that would work on anyone bigger than you right now, though." Sora now had a bit more respect for wizards like Merlin who spent their lives experimenting with magic. It was tougher than it looked to mold mana into a new shape like that.

"You mean you might have blown me to smithereens?! Still... Thank you, Sora. Let us be on our way, and never speak of this again!" Cogsworth stomp-waddled out the secret exit, with Sora and co. following.

"Indeed," Lumiere agreed, though his tone said otherwise. "I, meanwhile, must check on the rest of the castle. Dust must be piling up everywhere! Oh, that reminds me to also find the servants who made it into hiding. Like the duster girl! Oh ho ho..." He was off before either Cogsworth or Mrs. Potts could smack him for his lecherous tendencies.

 **VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

 _Beast's Castle: Master Bedroom: Bring the Beast to his senses!_

The trip to the Beast's room was short, and the Heartless along the path were few. This was very good for the heroes, since they had to defend Cogsworth. Luckily, the clock was small enough to stand on Goofy's free arm, meaning they didn't have to defend a specific spot.

The group paused outside the Beast's bedroom door. There was an unfamiliar, sinister voice speaking within...

"It's time you dealt with Belle. She's scheming to take everything you have: this castle. Your precious rose. And then... Your life. Trust no one. Feed your anger. Only anger will keep you strong."

"I don't care about strength. There's only one thing I want..." That was the Beast talking.

"What?" The other voice scoffed. "To love and be loved in return? Who could ever love a Beast?"

The Beast's responding roar was Sora's cue to bust into the room. Getting locked out was something that happened to _other_ people.

"You see? She has accomplices..." Almost predictably, the mystery voice turned out to be a man in a Black Coat. He waved a gloved hand, setting up a Dark Barrier between the rest of the people in the room and the pedestal on which the Beast's rose glowed. This act of "good faith" was all it took for the Beast to let his rage take over and attack Sora on the Organization member's behalf. The heroes jumped backwards as the Beast's claw smashed into the ground where they'd been.

"Cogsworth, use that alarm whenever you're ready!" Sora tried to push back against another attack, but the Beast's absurd strength was too much. As Sora picked himself out of a pile of rubble that might have once been furniture (potentially human furniture), Cogsworth replied.

"Roger that! Cover your ears, friends!" The Beast was too far gone to realize Cogsworth was in the room, much less that he was strategizing out loud. Consequently, only the Beast was unprepared when the alarm rang out. "Please, Master! Control yourself!" The Beast flinched back as though struck in the head. Sora took the opportunity to shove the former prince on his back.

"Alright, let's give it everything we've got!" Sora used the Charge spell again, boosting Cogsworth beyond his normal limits of stamina and annoyance. "One more time!"

This time, the alarm left everyone's ears ringing for a solid minute. But when everyone could think clearly again, "everyone" included the Beast.

The Beast sat up and rubbed his head. "Cogsworth, what happened? What was I doing?"

"Well, that is to say... You... Um..." Cogsworth tried to muster the courage to give the Beast the truthful but undesirable answer.

Donald had no such compunctions. "Well, you locked your servants down there in that dungeon!"

"I... I did?" The Beast looked horrified.

"Um... Y-you did!" Cogsworth finally spat it out.

"Don't worry, we know you wouldn't do it on purpose!" Sora placated.

"Yeah! In fact, I think you did it _because_ you're really nice! You wanted to make sure you didn't hurt 'em, right?" Goofy guessed in an amazing display of insight. Somehow, nobody ever got used to Goofy being the wise one.

The Beast tried to remember. "I...might have. I don't recall much."

Sora asked, "Well, do you at least know who that guy was? The one in the Black Coat."

The Beast suddenly jumped upright. "Xaldin! ...That's his name. He took all my sorrow, my sadness, my pain... And turned it all into rage!" Some of that rage was still there; the Beast growled at the manipulator through the rush of memories returning to him. Now, though, that anger was correctly aimed squarely at Xaldin.

"He must be a member of Organization XIII," Sora told him. "When a strong-willed person becomes a Heartless, a Nobody's created, too. See, the Organization has control over all the Nobodies."

"Yep!" Goofy picked up the explanation with the logical conclusion. "And he was gonna turn you into a Heartless! That way they'd get that Nobody of yours and have control over it!"

"If what you say is true, we must hurry and see to Belle's safety!" Cogsworth rallied.

"Belle...! I've mistreated her..." The Beast slumped over. "I've mistreated her and been so selfish."

Sora patted the Beast's massive shoulder. "She doesn't blame you. Besides, you still have plenty of time to patch things up and make it up to her! Let's go!"

"You're right." The Beast shook off Sora's hand and stalked out the bedroom door. "These creatures have no place in _my_ castle. I'll start making it up to Belle by making this place safe again." With a mighty howl, the Beast rushed down the hall to the West Wing.

"We're with you all the way!" Sora and co. ran to catch up, leaving Cogsworth to return to the other servants.

 **VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV  
**

 _Beast's Castle: Rampage Road!_

The West Wing had grown thick with various Heartless while the heroes had been away, perhaps being drawn to the Beast's rage during the fight. Now they gathered around him like moths to flame...but ended up like mosquitoes to a bug zapper. Between Sora's Keyblade and the Beast's claws, there wasn't much the various Large Bodies and Gargoyles could accomplish before they were torn apart. The group didn't take long to reach Belle's room in the East Wing, but they only found the Wardrobe, who told them Belle had left a few minutes ago looking for _them_. The Beast's temper was instantly replaced with more productive effort when Belle's scream could be heard echoing from the Ballroom right between the two wings of the castle.

"I'm warning you! You'll be sorry!"

 **VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

 _Beast's Castle: Ballroom: Defeat the Shadow Stalker!_

"Belle!" The Beast ran ahead and busted through the tall doors to the ornate Ballroom, which gave off an entirely different vibe from every other room in the castle with its warm colors, sparkling floor, and the glow of the overhead chandelier.

"Let's go!" Sora followed the Beast into the room, with Donald and Goofy right behind him. There was only one enemy in the room, and it wasn't Xaldin, but a round, strangely glowing Heartless.

"I'm alright!" Belle ran out to the balcony connecting to the Ballroom and shut the glass door behind her. The glass wasn't so much protection as it was symbolic. If anyone shattered that glass, the Beast would break them just as thoroughly, as his roar testified. The Heartless didn't pursue Belle, but instead bounced around in midair, screeching incoherently.

The _Shadow Stalker_ looked like the Darkballs Sora saw in his first adventure, but it was covered in rattling chains and glowed blue. It bounced high into the air, then slammed down into the floor, covering the whole room in the Power of Darkness. It acted like a Possessor of the highest order, warping the whole area into a series of weapons. The Possessor leaped into the chandelier above their heads, which crashed down with a large shockwave. Sora jumped the wave and attacked the ornament, managing to stop its movements before the lasers blasting out of it could rotate to hit him. A Release beam knocked the Shadow Stalker out into the open air, letting the group whale on it for a few combos apiece.

It got away in short order, zooming over to the back wall. It wasn't fleeing the fight to attack Belle like they feared, though. Instead, it possessed the windows to reveal a massive version of its creepy face before blasting huge walls of energy from each pane. The heroes managed to get between the blasts, but the Beast was a bit too wide and a bit too slow to avoid the purple energy completely. Goofy passed him a Potion to heal the burns, and the Shadow Stalker emerged on its own, moving over to the columns on the right side of the Ballroom.

It possessed a particular column, and the whole line lifted up and scraped along the ground, missing the heroes completely. Before it could try again, Sora attacked the possessed column and Released the Shadow Stalker from it, prompting the whole party to pile onto it with slashes and bashes until Sora felt something give way under his Keyblade. Assuming the Heartless was finished, like the other tough Heartless he'd gotten that reaction from, Sora stepped back to avoid any explosions that might accompany its demise.

Instead, it opened its mouth wide and remained perfectly still as tendrils of Darkness flowed out to swirl around it, quickly sealing it in a huge purple cocoon. Sora tried to stop whatever it was doing, but his Keyblade was repelled. Soon enough, the cocoon burst to reveal a much more intimidating form of the Pureblood Heartless.

 **VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

 _The Possessed Ballroom: Defeat the Dark Thorn!_

The newly-metamorphosed _Dark Thorn_ screeched in anger before vanishing from sight. Only a subtle distortion in the air revealed the location of the monster after it turned invisible. Sora braced himself for a tough fight.

Good thing he did, because the Dark Thorn's first attack was to rush right at him with confounding speed, grab the Keyblade wielder in one massive hand, and fling him at the left-hand wall of the Ballroom. Sora barely managed to get his wits about him in time to hold his Keyblade out and try to catch himself on a column as he passed. Success! His straight flight turned into a spin around the column, and Sora launched himself right back at the Dark Thorn while it was engaged in a vicious contest of strength against the Beast. Sora clocked the Heartless on the head so hard as he passed that its invisibility faltered, letting the Beast aim a more effective hit and bring the boss to hands and knees.

Now that the Dark Thorn was fully visible from the extra damage, Sora did a maneuver that would have been crazy for anyone else, and was honestly pretty crazy for Sora too. He used the monster's back as a springboard, launching himself up to the chandelier overhead with the extra oomph of the Dark Thorn's defiant roar. Sora snagged the former light source, still corrupted by the possession of the Ballroom, and dropped it right on the Heartless' head. Then he ran the chandelier around in a circle, dragging the boss beneath it, and allowed the helpful room feature to rise back to the ceiling.

The heroes dog-piled on the weakened monster, hitting it with everything they had, and finally Light began to jet out through cracks in the Dark Thorn's skin. "Okay, _now_ it's going to blow up!" Sora called, and the group covered their faces as the Darkness blew outward from it, blowing away the corruption of the room.

"We did it! Go, team!" This and other self-congratulations rang out from Sora's group while the Beast and Belle were reunited with a tender hug.

"Looks like things will be just fine here!" Chip the teacup said of the heartwarming scene, having sneaked into the room while no one was looking (and having somehow avoided the chaotic fight). "Mama wants Belle and the Master to get along. She'll be glad!" He hopped off to go spread the good news, and Sora noted a glow from the Keyblade.

"Is there a gate somewhere?" Sora held out the Keyblade anyway, despite the relevant object not being in the room, and everyone saw a bright flash of Light as the crown-shaped mark formed on the ground.

Sora, meanwhile, was transported to a strange, glowing space where the Beast's magic rose floated in the air, much like the Membership Card had in Hollow Bastion. Sora readied the Keyblade and fired a Release beam at the Keyhole that appeared, then found himself back in the Ballroom.

"What was that?" The Beast asked.

"That was our cue to go. We can move on to the next world now," Sora replied.

Belle asked, "Will you be back?"

"Sure! And if you run into trouble, we'll be glad to help!" Sora, Donald, and Goofy waved at the master of Beast's Castle as they left the Ballroom, then teleported back to the Gummi Ship.

 **VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

 _Meanwhile, in Ibukido..._

" _Now_ will you listen for a minute?" Kagura huffed as he replaced his massive sword on his back. Bang Shishigami tried to rise and fight longer, but found himself unable for the moment because his legs were ripped up.

Bang coughed up a small amount of blood, but noted that he could quickly recover from this. Kagura knew both their limits, well enough to do exactly as much damage as needed and no more. A benefit of training under Master Tenjo alongside Bang, he reasoned. "I suppose... I have no choice. What is so important that you would go to such lengths to have me hear?"

"I'm sorry for the delay, Your Highness. Could you please come forward?" Kagura motioned to a random pile of debris, and a young boy dressed in fine, orange robes and a fancy black headdress stepped out from behind it. Bang's jaw dropped right into the dirt.

"L-Lord Homura! Son of Master Tenjo! Is it truly you?!"

"It is I, Bang. I'm sorry we couldn't meet sooner," the boy affirmed with politeness and grace befitting royalty.

"See, Bang? I did have a reason to flee Ikaruga back then. Master Tenjo ordered it. While Master Amanohokosaka Tenjo entrusted you with the 55-inch nail, or should I say the Nox Nyctores, Phoenix: Rettenjo, I was entrusted with the safety of his son and heir, Amanohokosaka Homura. I had to fake his death and hide him from the NOL ever since."

"And I am very grateful for your aid, Kagura," Homura added.

"But why did you not tell me?" Bang implored.

"We were trying to create a death that didn't exist," Kagura told him reprovingly. "What good would it have done to tell _anyone?_ And even you heard that he was still alive somehow, right? We couldn't afford to deliberately compromise the situation any further."

"Oh... It's like a dream come true! I've searched a very long time for any trace of the young master!" Bang wailed manly tears of relief.

"Geez, you are so loud!" Kagura winced.

"I find it endearing," Homura chuckled. "Dry your eyes, Bang Shishigami. You've done well leading the Ikaruga refugees in my stead all these years."

Instantly, Bang got down to business. "Indeed, the people always come first! As they still do! But surely, Kagura, you did not tell me to meet you here only to reintroduce me to His Highness? Is there more?"

Kagura inwardly thanked his lucky stars that Bang was finally being serious. "Yes. I want you to go to the castle ruins at Wadatsumi. Wait in the lowest basement. In two days, someone will appear to meet you. I can't say for sure who that person will be. You will be the judge of their character. If you find them worthy, use the Phoenix: Rettenjo."

Bang stuttered. "'Use'? Don't you mean 'give'? It's usually 'give' this or 'give' that."

Kagura laughed lightheartedly, though his expression remained deadly serious. "No, the 55-inch nail was entrusted to _you_ by Lord Tenjo. You must understand the weight behind his choice; you must be the one to decide how that power is to be used."

Bang pumped himself up for another speech. "Of course! This 55-inch nail is the spirit of my Master! No one will claim his legacy while I live to protect it!"

Kagura cleaned out his ears. "Good to hear. Now, do you know anything about the Rettenjo?"

Bang crossed his arms. "All I know is what a man named Relius told me, and I have no way to know if he spoke the truth. He said there is a device called Kushinada's Lynchpin hidden somewhere in Ikaruga, and that this nail of mine was its core. He also claimed the Rettenjo was made to destroy the other nine Nox Nyctores, though he seemed more concerned about the Lynchpin."

Kagura nodded. "That's the general gist of it. I'm sorry I can't tell you more; I don't know much about it myself. But I know that you'll find Kushinada's Lynchpin if you wait in the basement of the castle, and I know we'll need it if we're ever going to get His Highness back to the position he deserves. Our enemies are also looking for the Lynchpin, so be careful."

"Indeed. I will do as you request. However, the hour has grown late and the air is cold. It's not good for Lord Homura's health, so I'd like to end this meeting here."

"Don't worry about me, Bang. I hope the person who appears before you is a good soul." Kagura and Homura walked away from the moonlit scene, Homura seeming to melt into the shadows a good distance from Kagura, despite wearing bright orange. Satisfied that His Highness was in good hands after all, Bang Shishigami made haste to Wadatsumi Castle.

 **VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

 _A/N's: And another late chapter is added to the growing tale! I'm a little worried that I'm over-describing Sora's side of events and under-describing Riku's, but it's a consequence of having so much material to work with for Sora in KH2 and essentially making up everything as I go along for Riku. Next chapter will bring Riku and Lambda back to Wonderland. As if it wasn't bad enough that Lambda can no longer maintain the quarantine over that headache, there will be another uninvited guest there who makes the Cheshire Cat look sane...and makes the Heartless seem harmless._

 _Tell me what you think of the various systems as I described them, such as Gummi missions, Valor Form combat, and several Reaction Commands. We know the Keyblade does some crazy stuff; for examples, just play Re: coded. Apparently it nullifies time-stopping genie powers, who knew? Anyway, my take on Reaction Commands is the Keyblade being wacky plus Sora just winging it as he goes along. Most of his moves seem like random opportunistic brawling involving grabbing enemies and yanking their guns around. He'll get more finesse as time goes on, but does he really need to? I'll leave that question to the philosophers, because I'm going to be away from my laptop over the weekend. As a final note, I'm accepting requests for Blue Skies one-shots, and have been for some time. Send in your ideas, please!_


	15. This Will Be on the Test!

**Silver Linings**

 **Chapter 15: This Will Be on the Test!**

 _A/N: I promised several of my PM contacts that there would be epic Hazama trolling and counter-trolling in this chapter. So here you go!_

 _I have been informed that Asteroid Sweep goes to Beast's Castle and Stardust Sweep leads to The Land of Dragons. I also combined elements of the two routes. Oops. Too late to change it now, of course, so we're rolling with it. I have the source game on hand now, so I can hopefully avoid mistakes like labeling the "Spider" Nobody with the six destructible guns in the last chapter as a "Heartless mecha." It's mentioned and semi-justified this time around. That mix-up happened while I had the "KH Insider dot com" site opened, and I was trying to use their archives_ specifically _to avoid screwing up my references; I might be a lost cause._

 _The Land of Dragons section in this chapter was done without looking again at the game or movie, but I put more characters and scenes in it anyway. In my opinion, no matter how much love the movie_ Mulan _is getting right now, it needs more. I also totally removed any mention of the Morale Gauge missions from that world, which I hate with a passion that rivals Axel's flames._

 _If the writing style for Riku's part of this chapter seems different compared to the others, it's because I just watched the whole Sword Art Online Abridged Series before writing it. I tend to end up mimicking the writing style of other works I see right beforehand. However, in this case, SAO Abridged is the perfect show to use in acquiring a trolling mindset through osmosis, which will help bring out Hazama's character. So here you go! Again!_

 _Here's a friendly warning to be ready for Hazama's mostly-unnecessary cursing. He's the reason the rating bumped up, after all. There are also a couple mentions of blood and squicky things villains do when they cut people, which fits with Hazama's character._

 **VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

 _Wonderland: The Bizarre Room..._

Lambda opened her eyes to see- _Error. Memory quarantined. Open quarantine (Y/N)?_ She gave a long-suffering sigh and answered _Y_. Yep, this was the Bizarre Room in Wonderland. Again. "Why do I keep ending up here? It makes no sense, and not just because this whole world is designed to make no sense! Now I have to deal with the headache, because the quarantine itself was too stressful to keep building up every time I end up here! Riku, when do we get to leave?" Lambda practically whined.

Riku, not having been here for two of the visits Lambda mentioned, was taken aback at her apparently sudden irritation. "Uh... There's a giant Heartless. I think it's in this room, but I don't see it anywhere..."

At least Lambda could remember the answer to that quandary now. "Oh, maybe it'll only show up if we drink the blue bottle of shrinking potion."

"What potion? There isn't even a place to put a-" Suddenly, the table in the middle of the room changed from a cleverly-shaded drawing on the floor to a solid, three-dimensional object in a puff of smoke, complete with a pair of bottles with red and blue labels. "...Oh. How did you know that was there?"

"I was here twice before you joined back up with me in the fight against Xion. The bottle was there the first time."

"Fight against who?" Riku could swear they'd already gone over this, but the details were fuzzy.

Lambda blanched. This memory problem was worse than she thought, and she tried not to blow up at Riku over it, with limited success. "We went over this already. We _just_ went over this in Halloween Town before fighting the Leechgrave! I guess no one who lost their memory of her is _allowed_ to remember, which is probably a problem that's unique to her. I've got examples of names being lost to history, but this is something else! I hope I can work around that after we meet up with Sora; I'd hate to break a promise just because Xion's literally gone out of sight and out of mind." Lambda reaffirmed her resolve to fix the mess that was Xion, and spent another few seconds reining in the constant headache she still had from Wonderland overdose. "I'm sorry, Riku; I didn't mean to get so mad over that. This place is really getting to me."

"Then I guess we should just drink the potion and beat whatever Heartless is supposedly in this room, so we can get out of here." Riku took the blue bottle and downed a sip of the unidentifiable liquid inside. "There. ...Ugh, that tasted awful! Quick, you need to have some before I start-" Both of them began to shrink, somehow ending up on top of the table. "...Ugh, never mind. Now _I've_ got a headache."

Lambda finally snapped and started venting her frustrations. "See what I mean? It makes _no sense!_ If the shrinking potion is something you drink in order to shrink, why did I also shrink when you're the only one who drank? It's crazy! And my programming is constantly screaming at me to _fix_ this entire _illogical mess,_ and I _can't!_ I'd have to be a goddess to change the fundamental nature of this world, so the next thing my programming brings up is a compulsion to _kill_ whatever godalready runs this place and take their job, which I don't even have the tools or specs to do!Not to mention we still have to fight a giant Heartless while we're only a couple inches tall..."

Right on cue (and cutting off Lambda's full-on rant before she might have repeated herself), the Heartless in question leaped onto the scene, punching the table back into drawing form. Riku and Lambda dove out of the way of the accompanying explosion and stood up to get a better look at their adversary.

Staring at the _Crimson Prankster_ (basically a Trickmaster like the one at Castle Oblivion, only it was colored more pink than red), Lambda found the bright side to the situation, meager though it was. "Well, at least the world doesn't have to do _different_ illogical things every time..."

 **VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

 _The World Map..._

"So, I guess we have to set a course to the next world through this 'Asteroid Sweep' place. Let's go!" Sora motioned to Goofy, who set the coordinates.

Donald reached over and grabbed Goofy's hand to stop him. "Wait! First I have to pass around the spoils!"

"What spoils? D'you mean the stuff in the chests?" Goofy asked.

"Well, there were some synthesis materials, but I'm talking about _this!_ " Donald produced a trinket with a round, green gem that looked almost exactly like the Blizzard Element Merlin had given them. "It's a Cure Element! I found it in the Parlor!" He handed the spell-granting artifact to Sora.

"I can't believe you managed to sneak this thing out from under all our noses, but I'm sort of glad you did... We should give it back when we come back to visit." In Sora's mind, there was no "if" involved there. They _would_ come back to visit. The Keyblade wielder felt the knowledge of Cure return to him, although he was somewhat disappointed at this version's...inefficiency. In the last adventure, he could have gotten away with casting seven Curagas in a row, but this version of Cure was guaranteed to use up every last scrap of his mana and force him to recharge, no matter how much he built up his reserves! The good news was, "Well, I guess if I can't Cure every injury, then we'll still need those healing items from time to time, Goofy. Now, let's blast off!"

The Gummi Ship soared through the Keyhole portal, straight into the Asteroid Sweep combat zone!

 **VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

 _Blast off! Asteroid Sweep!_

This combat zone was similar to the last one, and the trio handled it the same way. There wasn't any ground beneath the ship for tanks to run on, but there were new Nobodies that fired huge, ring-shaped projectiles. Sora found that the holes in the middle of the rings were totally harmless, and maneuvered the Gummi Ship cleanly through each one as Donald blasted the enemy.

A UFO-like enemy dropped down in front of the group at one point, and unfurled into a six-armed giant Nobody. Goofy noted, "Huh. The computer said that was a Heartless last time. Now it's saying it's a 'Spider' Nobody."

While spinning around the explosive cannonballs being fired at them, Sora replied, "Well, the only enemies we shot down on the last journey were Heartless, so maybe the computer just didn't know the difference?"

Chip chimed in over the communicator, "Yep! We just finished updating the targeting system to properly scan Nobodies! Really, though, you did a great job beating the last one without it." Indeed, Donald's barrages had already brought down the new Spider, and Goofy collected the salvageable Gummi Blocks from it. "By the way, guys, keep grabbing those Gummi Blocks out there. We're using them to build Teeny Ships for you, and we're almost done with the first one! Good luck!" The comm fell silent.

Donald managed to shoot down every last Nobody in the next swarm of small, blue fighters, and was rewarded by the appearance of a larger, red version. It took a few more blasts to kill than the others, but the reward was another Gummi Block lump. Goofy rubbed his hands together in anticipation of using the Teeny System, but Donald had a complaint. "Sora, why do you keep doing barrel rolls?"

Sora shrugged. "Can't help it. I just pressed this button that says 'Shield', and it did a roll. The good news is that some of the bullets I was rolling away from bounced off, so it does work as a shield, and the ship moves farther sideways than usual when I use it. Maybe the roll replaces the Shield-G we used last time? This way works as many times as we need it to, after all."

"But only until we can't take any more spinning," Donald groaned as he reached for a barf bag. Luckily, this Gummi Route was shorter than the last one, and they never fought anything harder than another Spider Nobody. The Highwind docked at the new world, "The Land of Dragons".

 **VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

 _The Bizarre Room: Defeat the Crimson Prankster!_

The battle began with the Crimson Prankster walking away from _itself_. It split into two identical copies, and Lambda discovered after her opening stabs that injuring one didn't affect the other. "So, I guess we can kill one and then focus on the other?" Lambda targeted the left Prankster, sending Sickle Storms at it from a distance.

"That's probably what it wants us to think, since it's a Trickmaster." Riku targeted the right Prankster, just in case.

"It's called a Crimson Prankster, actually. We can't expect the same tricks we saw in Castle Oblivion, of course." Lambda continued hammering the left Prankster from a distance, and its efforts to blow a flamethrower attack from its juggling torches didn't quite reach her from this far away. At least it still used the same element of magic.

"Really, the name is just semantics. At the end of the day, it's just another Heartless to beat down until it stops getting back up." Riku punctuated his statement by starting a Dark Break attack, slamming down on the stacked heads of the right Crimson Prankster. It crumpled to the ground, laying flat as paper, then vanished into smoke. Its captive heart rose up, but didn't fly away. Instead, it joined the other Crimson Prankster, who once again split into two. "Okay, of all the things it could have done after beating one of them, that's the most annoying possibility." Riku sighed and set in on the right-side Prankster again.

Lambda reported, "They both have exactly as much damage on them as the survivor did. I think it'll get easier if we whittle them down, until we can beat them both at once."

"Well, let's not let that take too long. This could get dull fast," Riku smirked as he vanished from the path of the flaming tornadoes the Pranksters' spinning turned them into. Soul Eater cleaved through the backs of both copies, knocking them down simultaneously. "I have to wonder if it was really worth coming here just to beat that. Am I getting too strong for my own good again?" Riku pulled off his hood and took a deep breath as the Crimson Prankster failed to reform.

The mood died abruptly at the same time the lights overhead did. A sinister voice slithered into the travelers' ears. "Wanna put that theory to the test, kiddies?"

Lambda froze up. "No, not him. Of all the people who could have crossed a new Time Break in _Wonderland_ , why did it have to be Yuuki Terumi? Has the universe not had enough of yanking my chain yet?!"

"Well, I know _I_ never get tired of yanking the chains of pathetic puppets like you. But please, call me Hazama. I'm a Captain in NOL Intelligence. Of course, I'm off duty right now." Terumi's mock-polite tone hardened into frustration. "The damn cat's sniveling daughter hid li'l Raggy from me somehow, so I've got to kill time until he shows back up. If I can kill other things and wreck a couple continuums while I'm at it, so much the better! And let me tell you..."

A knife suddenly pressed into Lambda's throat through the blackness.

"I'm _ecstatic_ that I can start with you, Number 11! It's _your_ fault Rags survived my last beatdown! Sure, it was another version of you, but that just means I get to kill you _TWICE!_ Ragna couldn't even manage to kill me once, so this makes me two-for-oh!" _***Shhhick!***_ After the ripping sound of the knife biting into flesh, several drips echoed through the dark room.

The lights in the room became just bright enough to make out what Hazama had just done. He licked the edge of his butterfly knife, drinking the artificial blood he'd just drawn from Lambda's neck. Lambda keeled over sideways, but Hazama caught her around the waist, hoisting her up for Riku to see.

 **VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

 _The Land of Dragons: Bamboo Clearing..._

Sora, Donald, and Goofy found themselves in a grove surrounded by bamboo. There was a loud voice coming from somewhere up ahead, and they pushed past some bamboo shoots to figure out where it was and what it was saying.

"You must succeed for your family's honor, but if they find you out, the penalty... is DEATH!" A boy was apparently being accosted by a large, shadowy creature in the clearing up ahead, looming over a small campfire. Goofy realized what his partners were about to try, and called, "Hey guys, maybe we should look before we leap!"

Too late; Sora and Donald already leaped head-first at the shadowy dragon. Goofy covered his eyes as they crashed into a huge boulder, catching nothing but the shadow cast by the campfire.

"Ow..." Sora looked up at the armored boy, who looked appropriately concerned for the health of these newcomers who just flung their own skulls at a rock.

"Are you okay, what are you doing here?" Odd, that voice was pretty high for a guy...

"Where did that big creature go?" Sora asked as he rubbed his head.

"I'm right here, baby! I am the immense! The powerful! The invincible! The _pleasurable!_ The indescribable Mushu!" To punctuate his last boast, a tiny, red, very familiar dragon strutted out from behind the campfire that was casting his shadow on the rock. The contrast between the scrawny Mushu and his ego-sized shadow-puppet show was a bit disappointing, but Sora didn't really care at that moment.

"Mushu? Is that you?" Goofy called as he loped over to the group. "It's been a while!"

"You know my family guardian?" The armored boy asked.

"Yep! We met him while we were traveling around. It was a while ago." Sora recalled seating the little dragon on his head and letting him pepper Heartless with tiny fireballs, which helped the Keyblade wielder keep out of claw's reach of the monsters. He'd only gotten the ability to summon Mushu near the end of the last journey, but he'd done well against the tough Heartless in the End of the World. It was nothing Sora's group couldn't handle on their own, but Mushu made a good showing the first time they summoned him.

Mushu was quick to play this up. "Yep! We went all over the place roasting monsters! I've helped Sora here out of a few tight spots." Mushu leaned against Sora's ankle to put on an air of tough-guy indifference, but Sora shifted sideways, so the dragon fell on his back.

"Something like that," Sora chuckled.

Goofy asked, "Were you always a family guardian, Mushu?"

"Uh... Yeah! Yeah, I was. And that puts you up to your eyeballs in debt to the Fa family. Best start working it off." The next part was in a stage whisper. "Help me out here! I dunno if I can get this joker into the Chinese army on my own!" Mushu gestured to the armored boy, who mostly stayed out of the discussion.

"Who are you, anyway?" Sora asked the boy.

"I'm Fa Mu-" The boy clapped a hand over his mouth. "Um, I'm..."

"Ping!" Mushu offered, raising his pointer claw into the air from his position on his back.

"Right!" The boy took the cue, suddenly using a much deeper voice. "I am Ping! I'm going to join the Chinese army to bring honor to my family!"

Sora rubbed his chin. Something wasn't adding up...

Goofy clapped his fist on his palm. "I get it! You're pretending to be a boy, aren't you?" Sora and Donald gaped at Goofy's newest display of deductive reasoning. With how many times he had figured out something everyone else missed so far, it was unclear why the dog was the one named Goofy.

"You really didn't notice?" The so-called Ping reverted to _her_ usual voice. "Maybe I've got a shot at this after all..."

Mushu finally pushed himself upright. "Yeah, but don't get too cocky yet; these guys are a bunch of dunces, from what I recall. You'll need to do better to fool Captain Li Shang, that officer guy in charge of training the recruits and famous for having an unfairly manly chest. You gotta be _that_ manly, girl."

Ping sighed heavily. "I've got to try, at any rate... Sora, Donald, Goofy? Will you help? I might pull it off easier if you can vouch for me."

Sora replied with an easy smile, "Sure, why not? We're bound to run into what we're looking for along the way."

"Alright, let's do this! TO BOOT CAMP!" Mushu thrust a fist into the air and tried to charge down the path to the camp, but tripped over a purple cricket. "Cri-Kee? Since when were you coming along?"

The cricket chirped several times while expressing a surprising amount of exasperation for a bug.

Mushu slapped his forehead. "Oh, yeah. I forgot the whole 'follow Mulan' thing was your idea. I might not have let you along anyway, but you're lucky that you're lucky, yeah?" Both the little creatures hopped up onto Mulan's (Ping's; gotta remember the cover identity!) shoulder and hid in "his" armor, and Ping led the way down the hill.

 **VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

 _The Bizarre Room: Defeat Hazama!_

Riku froze in place, golden eyes already shining with tears. Hazama laughed his most infuriating cackle, reveling in another success. He called out, "Yo, other...guy! I don't know your name, and I frankly don't care. But don't tell me you feel _bad_ that I just knifed this tool! Oh, don't tell me... You were in _love_ with it, weren't you? Well, good news then! I just drew a little blood. Number Eleven would be a _really_ shitty weapon of mass destruction if it could die from one little nick like that. So now you get to see me do it again! And again! And _AGAI-_ " Hazama was cut off by Riku suddenly appearing in front of him and punching the snake so hard in the face that his whole head snapped backward out of view. Lambda fell out of Hazama's grip and crumpled to the floor.

"Don't you _dare_ talk about Lambda that way, you bastard!" Riku shouted, with Darkness rising from his body like smoke. But that smoke wafted towards Hazama, who was still laughing despite the vicious right hook to the face.

"Oh, right, my bad. I forgot to mention! I get my power from hatred! Specifically, from other people hating me. So the more shit I put you through, the more you hate me, and the stronger I get! And this Power of Darkness stuff really is something else. Thanks to this power, you couldn't even hit me hard enough to knock off my stylin' fedora!" Sure enough, when Hazama righted his completely undamaged head, his golden, slit-pupiled eyes were still shadowed by the fedora. "So go ahead, hit me as much as you want! It'll only make the despair tastier when I kill you! Go on! I'll give you a freebie."

"Terra Needle." Lambda intoned, having slipped out of melee range during Hazama's latest attempt to break the pair's resistance with words alone.

"Hm? Up already, Eleven? I guess that makes you _slightly_ more durable than most of the idiots I've killed. Too bad you apparently missed your freeb-" _*Glurk!*_ Lambda's attack, which only just went off at that moment, stabbed Hazama from below to cut off his latest taunt, then dropped four more swords on him from above.

Hazama made a show of rubbing the non-wounded areas. "Dang, that is actually the first time _anyone_ has ever spanked my ass. You must really hate my guts!"

"Negative. Emotional lock protocols in effect. All emotional response to Yuuki Terumi...deleted. 100% of this unit's physical damage has been repaired. Terminating target. Gravity Seed." As Hazama stumbled under the increased gravity, Lambda stood up ramrod straight, with no evidence remaining of the deep gash Hazama had carved in her neck moments ago. Without even moving her hands, she summoned an array of countless swords in a dome, poised to skewer Hazama from every direction. "Cutter Infiniti." All the swords slammed home, but Hazama's skin only received minor cuts.

"Damn you! You ruined my favorite suit! Do you know how much it costs to get this repaired _every_ time someone thinks they can beat me?" Despite his angry words, his tone of voice revealed that Hazama wasn't worried yet. Sure, he couldn't troll Number Eleven anymore, and that meant his wounds weren't healing, but that little cherry-tap wouldn't even slow him down. And there was another neat trick he could still play... He crossed his arms behind his head as he hunched over. "It's time I showed you why you can't possibly beat me. Restriction 666 released! Dimensional interference field deployed!" A jagged, poison-green sigil formed under Hazama's feet, and the ground began to shake. "Code S.O.L.!" The rumbling intensified. "BlazBlue, _ACTIVATE!_ " Hazama thrust his arms out and stood up straight, and a field of green energy bordered by swirling runes burst into existence around him. His fedora flew off his head, revealing crazy spikes of slime-green hair. "Not so cocky now, are you, Eleven?! Time to DIE!" Hazama twirled his twin butterfly knives with a manic grin, daring Lambda to make the first move.

Lambda didn't show any outward reaction, but her protocols summed up the change in the situation. "This unit's confidence remains a non-factor to combat strategy. Warning! Target parameters updated. Target's entire body identified as the Azure Grimoire. Target's threat level increased to SS. Likelihood of successful termination of target reduced to 0.5%. Master Riku, this unit requests immediate assistance." Lambda set her Petals in Guard Mode.

Riku was just coming to terms with the fact that his girlfriend _re-locked her own emotions_ to try to even the odds against this monster who barely looked like a man anymore. Not to mention that title she'd just used, _Master Riku_ , which meant she was enforcing her own position as a weapon in Riku's arsenal. How dare Terumi drive Lambda to stoop to thing-hood for his own sick fun?! Riku's own hatred for Hazama still burned brightly, and the Darkness it created was still flowing out to empower his adversary. "Darn it, this is why I didn't want to use the Darkness! It always ends up turning... against you..." Riku's stolen face slowly twisted into a vicious smirk. "Wait, now I get it. I'll handle it, Lambda! One 'immediate assist', coming right up!" Riku took a heavy step forward, and...dismissed Soul Eater entirely. Instead of striking with his weapon, he raised his unarmed glove toward Hazama, blowing out more Darkness that the snake eagerly absorbed.

"Was that your game-changing trick, _'Master Riku?'_ You realize you just made me stronger, right? Go ahead, keep it up!" Hazama idly summoned the snakelike Nox Nyctores, Ouroboros, to shield himself from the Legacy Edge storm, which Lambda launched the moment he took his eyes off her to face Riku.

Riku just shook his head at Hazama's taunts, affecting a sad smile at the serpent in an obvious show of pity that bordered on smugness. Hazama rattled out a hiss that sounded like an actual snake. There was only one thing Hazama hated more than lies and heroes, and that was being _pitied_ by lying heroes.

When Riku next spoke, he used Ansem's voice, to deliberately dial up the intimidating demeanor he presented. "You just don't get it at all, do you? You're even more clueless than I was when I was starting out. I'm not making you stronger. I'm making the Darkness stronger. There's a _difference!_ " Riku clenched his fist, and suddenly Hazama found himself unable to move so much as a finger. "Do you know why I look ten years older than I actually am? I was possessed by this one other grandiose jerk, a man-turned-monster who called himself Ansem. He did it by getting me to build up the Power of Darkness in my heart, then bending that Darkness to his will." Riku squeezed his fist tighter, causing pain in Hazama's chest. "See, the Darkness doesn't serve anyone intrinsically. It works on a temporary basis, and only for the strongest will around, even if that will is someone else's. And you just fell into the same trap I fell for that time, the only difference being that I got out. It was a long struggle, but I _beat_ the Darkness, something you could never do. I wear Ansem's face, not because he stole my body, but because I stole _his_ body right back. As of this moment, I'm the strongest user of the Power of Darkness in the entire World, and I'm not exaggerating at all. It probably sounds like bragging when I'm so far above you, but it's just the cold...honest...truth."

Riku continued his reversal of Hazama's morale-breaking talk with a growing smirk. "I _own_ you, Yuuki Terumi, in both heart and body. Even if I can't kill you, you're no threat to me at all. Now turn yourself around and march back through that Time Break over there, where I won't have to deal with holding on to this wretched tumor you call your heart. You know, if I get too disgusted by you and my Darkness reflects it, it'll go to you, and help cement my hold on you even further. It's a vicious cycle, isn't it? Go on, say something. See how far your poison tongue will get you with me."

Hazama well and truly lost his cool. "W-what? How are you-what did you-It's not supposed to work like this, damn it!" Hazama clutched his skull (only managing the motion through a supreme effort that Riku allowed him to make), unable to cope with suddenly being the one who was guaranteed to _not_ win. After thousands of hundred-year loops where he knew every single detail, Terumi had no practice dealing with unforeseen complications like this. Not that any extra preparation could have helped him... "Hatred is _my_ weapon! I _own_ it! I _AM_ hate! I will not let _my_ hate be used by some upstart _KID!_ Get your filthy mitts off my soul, you monster!" Despite Hazama's defiant screams, his feet rigidly stepped over to his lost hat, and his back haltingly bent down to retrieve it before he turned to face the Time Break.

Riku set his face into a stony glare. "You're not in a position to call people monsters. Ionly pull out all the stops when I need all my power to _protect_ someone. _You're_ the one who would do this for kicks...if you weren't so weak _._ Get out of our lives, Terumi. And take your ugly hat with you on the way out; it makes you look like you're trying too hard at the irredeemable villain angle." Hazama marched through the Time Break against his will, impotently screaming bloody murder all the way. Riku kept up his concentration for ten more seconds after Hazama disappeared, then relaxed.

Lambda hadn't moved since launching the Legacy Edge for two reasons. One, because she wasn't needed. Two, because Riku mind-controlling people was brain-breaking for Lambda. It caused her processor to freeze up, the robotic, quasi-emotionless equivalent of being scared stiff, because this _should not happen_ and the thing that shouldn't happen was going to _kill her._ Somehow, it was even worse that those words didn't come from Ansem at all; everything Riku said came from his own heart. It turned every fact the Prime Field Device knew about Riku on its head for a moment, and it would take time to get her perceptions back in a new order. Still, now that the threat was ended (the overhead lamps had even brightened back to their normal levels to prove it), she had one last report to give. "Target lost; area cleared of hostiles. Master Riku, this unit requests permission to deactivate all emotional locks."

Riku jerked in place, suddenly realizing exactly how far he'd gone in using the Darkness in all the wrong ways, right in front of his girlfriend. Some comfort he was! Still, Lambda was waiting for him to undo her restrictions, like he'd done the first time they'd met, and he absolutely couldn't keep her waiting. He switched back to his own voice immediately. "Do it! Remove those locks as fast as you can. And please don't put them up again; I was worried they might be permanent this time..."

"Acknowledged. Emotional lock override...successful. Phew, that's better! But as for you, that whole exchange was... _scary._ To describe just how scary you were, if I were capable of feeling fear while you did it, I might have gone insane from terror and stabbed myself and everything around me, because I realized that you could take over my mind even more easily than Relius Clover. I was 100% certain right up to that point that you'd never do anything Ansem did to you! Don't ever do that again!" Lambda was suddenly unarmored, positioned right in Riku's arms, and squeezing him for all she was worth, with enough strength in her arms to push down a building the size of the Mysterious Tower). As soon as she had her arms around her boyfriend, she started crying her crimson eyes out. "I don't know what to do! I don't want to leave you, but I don't want to be enslaved by the boy I love, and if you ended up doing that...!"

Riku tried to squeeze out some words of comfort through the vise around his midsection. "I...definitely won't...Lambda. That's the kind of thing...only Terumi could deserve." Lambda loosened up a bit, and Riku took a deep breath before continuing. "I would never do that to anyone with even a shred of hope for redemption. Not even...not even Ansem." Surprisingly, Riku meant everything he said, even the bit about not trying to possess Ansem. "You're right: that control is the kind of power _no one_ should have. I scared _myself_ with the things I said to Terumi, actually. That wasn't the kind of person I want to be, not at all. But now I have to face that I _could_ end up being that evil, which might work out for the best. Now I know what to look out for, and how to be a better person." Riku wiped some excess tears away from Lambda's cheeks, and stepped back to give her the warmest smile he could. "So don't worry. I won't let anyone do that to you. I _especially_ won't let myself fall that far. I promise. Hey, cheer up; at least we can finally get off this world now!"

Lambda sniffled for a few more seconds, then got her tears under control. "As much as I hate to say it, we have to stick around to tell Kokonoe about this Time Break. I'll call her." Lambda contacted Kokonoe over her internal radio, sending along the coordinates of both ends of the Time Break that linked the Bizarre Room to the Azure Timeline.

Kokonoe's voice crackled over Lambda's external speaker. "Well, that explains where Terumi went during the tournament, and why he just showed up right by the arena. Good thing you kept him busy for so long; we were able to get what we needed from the event. But what did you do to him? The bastard was way less cocky than usual, and he just about broke down crying when I pulled my own trump card on him. I mean, sure, putting him in his place is pretty much my life goal, but I just wasn't expecting you two to be able to do it. That jerkass is more or less a god, and he lords it over us mortals every chance he gets." Kokonoe sounded legitimately impressed.

Riku hesitantly replied, "Well...things work differently over here. I'd say how I did it, but I don't want to scare Lambda all over again, and I'm not doing it again. _Ever._ "

Kokonoe got the picture. "Got it. You had to fight dirty and cross a few moral lines. That's generally how I have to do it. Well, I've finally got a sufficiently foolproof plan to finish Terumi off for good, and knowing Rachel, she's probably preparing a plan of her own to beat me to it. Well, if she manages to actually kill that bastard, I'll take it as a blessing. I might even drop that high-and-mighty vampire from my hit list if she pulls it off; most of what I hate about her is what she _doesn't_ do. Anyway, stand by for a bit. Tager needs to recharge after teleporting Azrael to his new doghouse yesterday and holding up an Eclipse Field for an hour today."

Azrael? "I understand." Lambda shuddered at the level of effort it must have taken to get Azrael caged up. Her database files on the "Mad Dog" skimped on his background, but his power and feats on the battlefield were spelled out in no uncertain terms. "But what's that trump card you mentioned?"

"Eh, I've got time to explain, so strap in; this one's a doozy. I did some digging in the past and copied Celica A. Mercury from 90 years ago. I'll spare you the gruesome and/or technical details. In the genetic sense, she's my aunt on my mother's side, which I...prefer not to think about. Anyway, she's tagging along with Ragna right now. Hopefully, you'll never meet her, except in the...unfortunately likely scenario that she gets lost to her usual extreme degree and stumbles through a Time Break. I'm still working on a permanent solution to those; progress is being slower than I'd like. Anyway, stand by 'til Tager and Mickey get there." Kokonoe cut the connection.

Lambda took a few seconds to digest the information (Kokonoe cloned her aunt? From the past? As a secret weapon? One that might "get lost" in another universe without warning?!), but then blanched as a realization hit her. "Aw, shoot! We have to stay in _Wonderland_ until we can get this closed!" Riku sighed in frustration, but he could already hear a faint jingling sound...

"LOOK OUT, COMIN' THROUGH!" King Mickey made a flashy entrance with his usual impeccable timing, crashing down in the spot Riku just jumped away from. "I'm here! Glad to see you're okay, fellas!" The Time Break began to glow as Tager affected it from the other side, and Mickey promptly sealed the rift. "Sorry I can't stick around. I've got a few more places to check. Besides, this world just bugs me for some reason."

"You and _everyone_ else, Your Majesty," Lambda replied. "We should be going as well. Right, Riku?"

"Yeah. Let's go, dear." Riku formed a Dark Corridor as Mickey waved and launched into the sky again.

"Good to see you're getting used to the romantic bits, dear. I'm still working on that, so I might be a bit blunt for a while." Lambda giggled at Riku's belated blush. "Hey, why don't we just go for a second date this time, instead of looking for another huge Heartless? I need to take a break from this 'saving the World, one world at a time' plan. Almost dying twice in one day is stressful. Plus, we haven't slept for... Oh my gods, we haven't slept for an entire week!" Lambda took a moment to confirm the time on her World Clock.

Riku's jaw dropped. "How did we not pass out during the whole thing with Roxas? You win; we're taking a break. I definitely need to get some real food and a real bed. Twilight Town it is!" He made sure to hold Lambda close while they walked through the Corridor of Darkness together.

 **VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

 _To be a man..._

When Sora, Donald, Goofy, and Ping made it to the camp to get Ping registered, they found it already under attack by local Heartless. _Nightwalkers_ stumbled around like zombies, only to suddenly slash everything around them with a spinning attack, while Shadows and Soldiers pounced on the other recruits from every angle. Three recruits stood out by their appearance as they stood back to back in the middle of an encroaching group of Heartless. The thin, yellow-armored man called, "Yao, now would be a great time to show off your awesome warrior skills!"

The extremely short, bruised, red-armored man on his left responded, "I already tried my Battle Scar Suplex, Ling! The only thing we haven't tried is Chien-Po's...whatever moves he's got!" Yao elbowed the tall, tubby, bald man in blue on his own left, causing Chien-Po to sadly shake his head. "I cannot calm them down with my chanting, nor did my sword cut them. Ling, do you have any ideas?"

The skinny guy, Ling, dripped a single manly tear from his left eye. "Sorry, nope. Looks like we're finished, guys. At least we all went out fighting together." The three turned toward each other and had a tearful group hug.

"What are you all talking about?" yelled Donald. The world-travelers (and Ping) had already killed every single Heartless in the camp. Ping had a ways to go before calling himself a fighter-he'd already tripped over his own boots once while trying to swing his ancestral sword overhead-but his bravery was commendable. He hadn't once shied away from the attack like the three other recruits.

"Oh, heh heh..." Ling looked around and saw that the camp was clear of enemies. "Our bad. We won't be caught off guard next time, right guys?"

Yao responded by slugging Ling in the side, catching the skinny guy by surprise and knocking him over. "Well, I know _I_ won't," the short-tempered (heh!) man smugly replied.

"You little backstabber!" Ling grabbed Yao's leg.

"LITTLE, am I?" Yao dove into the grapple and tumbled with Ling, kicking up dust into a big cloud of violence.

"Order in the camp!" The shouted command carried throughout the camp, instantly stopping all movement. The handsome speaker rode in on a white stallion, wearing a red cape over his armor. "The threat is ended, which means we can get down to business and start training. It does _not_ give any of my troops license to squabble in the dirt. I am Captain Li Shang, and I'm here to put you new recruits through the worst day of your lives. Either you learn what you need and build the skills China needs to defeat the Huns, or you leave at first light tomorrow. And if you can't take what _I_ dish out, you won't stand a chance against the Huns, so I won't hear any complaints. Step forward as I call roll. Yao!"

Yao growled, but raised his hand (to about the height of Ling's waist). "I'm here, pretty boy."

Shang glared at Yao for a moment, but moved on. "Close, but not quite. Next in line, take another guess what you little boys should call me. Ling!"

"Accounted for!"

"You didn't even guess. Half-rations at the evening meal for disobeying orders! Chien-Po!" Ling deflated, which was impressive given how little room his chest had to shrink.

Chien-Po, in light of this new threat, gave his best effort. "I am present, Sir!"

Shang gave Chien-Po a genuine smile, showing that he wasn't always nasty to his recruits; just the ones who didn't take him seriously. "Good job, you've figured out how to address me. You get Ling's ration tonight. Now..." Shang rounded on Sora's group. "Who are you three? I don't recognize you."

Sora gestured to himself and his friends as he introduced himself. "I'm Sora, sir, and these two are my friends, Donald and Goofy. We're...travelers...here to deal with the Heartless. They're those monsters that attacked the camp."

Shang nodded. "As long as you aren't spies for the Huns, you're welcome in my troop. Your fighting skills are encouraging, and we may need your knowledge of these 'Heartless'."

Ping spoke up. "I'm Fa Ping, son of-"

Shang cut him off. "You who just spoke out of turn, you should go home. Your swordplay is just short of hopeless, and we don't have time to train you from scratch until you can catch up with the likes of Ling."

Ping sputtered, "But... That would dishonor my family!"

"You'd rather dishonor my troops?" That question implied a serious threat; dishonoring the Imperial army was punishable by death, after all. Shang wouldn't risk allowing himself or his troops to be tarred with the same brush as Ping, either.

"If it's okay, sir, I'd like Ping to have a chance," Sora spoke up. "He's a brave fighter, and I'll help train him to catch up."

"Well..." Shang considered it. "If you're volunteering to pull double duty and keep this boy out of my hair, I don't see why not. The first exercise begins... Now!" Shang unclasped his armor and shrugged off his shirt. An experienced soldier wordlessly handed Shang a bow, which he strung effortlessly and aimed at his men. A few gasps were heard, but Shang then aimed high overhead, and let the arrow fly until it sunk into the top of a free-standing wooden pole in the corner of the camp. "The first person to claim that arrow will be guaranteed a favorable position on the battlefield. Any volunteers?"

"I'll get that arrow, pretty boy. And I'll do it with my shirt _on_." Yao stomped up to the pole, but before he could grab hold or start climbing, Shang was suddenly right next to him. "You're forgetting some equipment. _This_ represents discipline," Shang tied a heavy disc to Yao's left arm, which the short man struggled to lift. "And _this_ represents strength." The second disc tied to Yao's right arm was too much, and he collapsed right as Shang said "strength." Nobody in the ranks even chuckled, because that sad lump of fail was about to be them. "You will need both virtues to reach the arrow. Now go ahead, Yao." Shang stepped to the side, allowing Yao to try to climb the pole.

Yao failed, unable to scoot up the pole any more than once before the weights dragged him back down. In quick succession, every trainee, including Sora, Donald, and Goofy, failed the same test in the same way. Shang was not impressed. "We've got a long way to go..."

Many other hellish training exercises were administered, and nobody showed much improvement before midday. Ping in particular trailed behind the others, though Sora and his fellow travelers displayed far more competence at jumping logs in the river and dodging flaming arrows than climbing the pole.

In the afternoon, Shang approached the heroes. "I've given you lot five hours, but I can't see any improvement in Ping's skills. You have five more hours to teach him whatever you think you can. At the end of it, Ping will duel me personally, after which I will decide whether he stays or goes. My decision will be final. Am I understood?"

"Sir, yes, sir!" Sora saluted, but inwardly he wondered if he could make up the difference in time. Shang marched off to the Captain's tent.

Ping was more vocal about his insecurities. "What if he's right? What if I can't beat him?"

Sora was quick to reassure him. "You don't need to beat him, just impress him. If he singled you out, then you only really need to be as good as the other guys. We'll start with your balance. Keep your feet further apart when you fight, for starters." Ping spread his legs five feet apart, and ended up almost doing the splits in full armor. "Not that far apart. Stand the way you're comfortable, then shift your feet out until you feel more stable." Ping did as ordered, and got into a more effective combat stance. "There, that's better. If you keep both feet on the ground and about that far apart, you won't be knocked over as easily while blocking. Don't worry about taking a few tries; I had to figure this all out myself, starting with unlearning all the wrong lessons, and it's a miracle I lasted long enough against the Heartless to improve."

Ping tried to attack, but fell over again. Sora called out, "Now, in defense, you want to keep stable, but while attacking, you have to step forward with your swing. Otherwise, your sword will overbalance you. You'll work on how to do that until you can get back into position to defend as quickly as you can attack, which means keeping your balance perfect at all times. It's all in the footwork."

"Sora, don't you normally jump around a lot when you fight?" Donald asked.

"Yeah, but that's a more recent thing ever since I basically got superpowers. It's a long story," Sora assured Ping. "Ping has to learn how to fight normally, no magic involved, so we'll stick with what's practical. It's a good thing Riku gave me all that advice back home after every time he beat me, which happened, um...oh yeah, 25 times a day. I kept track."

After four hours of practice, Sora determined that Ping was as good with a sword as he was likely to get, and they took a break.

"I still don't think I'm good enough at this..." Ping mumbled to himself.

Sora poked Ping in the forehead to shut down that line of thought. "Don't _ever_ give up, Ping. You'll only lose if you quit."

Goofy added, "And you must have something you're good at. You could be fast, clever..." Goofy ticked points off on his fingers.

"Clever..." Ping's fake voice slipped for a second, and "he" cleared his throat before continuing. "I can work with that. Thanks, guys. I guess I'm as ready as I'll ever be to give it a shot."

"Then go; everyone's gathered over there." Sora pointed out the group of sweaty guys, gathered around a once again shirtless Shang. "Good luck, Ping." Ping got up and marched with almost-perfect form over to the makeshift arena.

Shang tossed Ping a bowstaff, but Yao caught it first, then handed it to Ping with gentlemanly bow. Shang skillfully twirled his own staff before leveling it at Ping, inviting the recruit to make the first move.

"Sora, we only trained in swordplay!" Ping called over his shoulder.

"Don't worry, you can still do it if you find your balance like we practiced! Just hold it with your hands far apart!" Sora called back.

Unfortunately, the distraction allowed Ling to drop a large, unpleasant-looking bug down Ping's collar, which basically made him flip out and swing the bowstaff wildly in all directions. Shang easily stepped inside the reach of the staff, picking his way over accidentally-felled recruits that were too close at the start, and yanked the weapon out of Ping's hands. Shang called out, "Normally I'd end the evaluation right here, but I know sabotage when I see it. And I saw it, Ling. You should have learned your lesson the last time your rations were cut, but now you'll just skip dinner. Yao, you get the _other_ half of Ling's rations. Nice catch; you showed quick reflexes there, mean-spirited or not." Ling slumped over and dramatically clutched his stomach, Yao thanked his lucky stars that being short saved him from being knocked out like the rest, and the rest picked themselves off the ground and returned to their tents, not interested in sticking around to watch the rest of the evaluation.

Ping accepted the weights, but still had trouble lifting them. His final attempt to climb the pole failed as surely as the rest. Shang coldly handed him a scroll stating that Fa Ping was dishonorably discharged from service in the Imperial Army. "Leave this place by dawn. You're not suited to fight in any war."

Ping bowed his head, accepted the scroll, and trudged back to camp. The last of the trainees followed Shang out of sight. As the despondent Ping walked, his face fell into shadow from the pole in front of the setting sun, prompting him to look up at the unattainable arrow again, then down at the weights that had never been taken off his wrists. A look of determination finally grew on his face, and he flung himself at the pole again.

Sora covered his eyes as Ping fell off as expected, but Goofy called, "Don't keep doin' it the same way every time! Remember, Ping, _clever!_ "

Ping looked down at the weights, and then looked closer at the sashes that tied the discs to his arms. With a grin, he spun the weights around behind the pillar, wrapping them together and turning the burden into additional leverage. He began to climb.

"Whoa!" Sora gasped. Ping was already five steps up the pole, which was higher than any other recruit had managed to get, and he was still climbing.

"You've got it, Ping!" Goofy called out, attracting the attention of some soldiers, who slowly gathered around with incredulous stares. Their various reactions went along the lines of:

"Hey, look at Ping!"

"What's he doing?"

"How is he doing that?"

"You mean we could have done it like that the whole time?"

"Man, Ping just made us all look stupid!"

Even with this new advantage, that was one tall pole to climb in one go. Ping slipped halfway up, but only fell a couple feet before catching himself and struggling to rise again. Ling suddenly called up some encouragement. "You can do it, Ping!"

Chien-Po waved some chopsticks over his head. "Keep climbing!"

Even Yao joined in. "Be a man, Ping!"

Ping finally reached the top of the pole and sat atop it as the crescent moon peeked out from behind the clouds above him. Ping seized the arrow, yanked it out of the pole, and held it high, and Donald sent up an impromptu spell that created a multicolored fireworks display. The crowd went wild!

Shang finally marched over to see what the commotion was about, only to have an arrow embed itself in the dirt at his feet. He looked up to the origin of the shot, and saw Ping confidently smiling atop the pole, surrounded by cheering soldiers. Shang's shock slowly melted into approval. "Well, I'll be..."

 **VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

 _The Land of Dragons: Mountain Pass..._

Ping reflected on that morning as he led Sora, Donald, and Goofy up a trail into the mountains the next day, as per their first mission.

 _"Since it seems you're much more competent when you make your own path," Shang began, "I'm assigning you four to scout a clear path up the Tung-Shao pass. We have orders to meet my fath-the General and the rest of the Imperial Army at a small village out there, and cut off the Huns' advance before they reach the Imperial City and the Emperor."_

 _Mushu snickered to himself behind Ping's neck, with Cri-Kee trying to muffle him. What had they done this time?_

 _Shang continued, "Ping is to lead the group. That's an order, and if I find you've gone ahead and cut off any situations where Ping could show us his_ preferred _fighting skills, I will have you three removed from the army. You're not technically recruits, so all I need to do to kick you out is point my finger. But remember, this is still an important mission, not just a training exercise. Finding or making a safe path into the mountains will let us rejoin the rest of the army faster, which could make all the difference when the Huns attack."_

 _All four misfits saluted. "Sir!"_

Back in the present, the four hadn't even made it to the base of the mountain when a group of Heartless attacked. Each party member fought a subset of the enemies, and they mopped them up at about the same time, which spoke highly of Ping's improvement already. The four proceeded up the mountain.

Almost immediately, their progress was blocked by a wall of loosely-stacked boulders. The spacing between them was too regular to be the result of a natural landslide, and the idea that they'd been blocked on purpose became more likely when two large _Assault Rider_ Heartless appeared to attack the group. Sora ran up to the wall. "I'll break the rocks! You three keep those Heartless busy!"

"Can you really break that wall?" Ping asked as he ducked a wide sweep of an Assault Rider's glaive. Ping stepped in as he'd practiced and struck the Heartless with a heavy blow, dispersing it. He overextended himself, though, and barely managed to keep his balance. In the time he took to find his balance, Donald and Goofy had dispatched the other Assault Rider, and Sora broke the supporting rocks of the wall with a single smack, causing the rest of the blockade to crumble a loud crash and a spray of debris.

"Sorry, couldn't hear you over the wall breaking!" Sora pretended to holler, then grinned. "Just kidding, Ping! Superpowers, remember? Great work with that Heartless, though. Keep it up!"

"I don't know if I'll ever be as amazing as you, Sora, but I'm definitely going to try!" Ping hammed up the faux-male voice as he charged ahead, cutting down a pair of Nightwalkers and four Soldiers before being stopped by another rock wall. Sora dashed after him and smashed the wall, then gestured for Donald to send a firework up; that was the signal they'd promised to send the other recruits, telling them that the path was clear.

Ling and his oddly-sized buddies were among the first to arrive. "Man, not a monster or Hun in sight! Did you have to take them all out?"

Sora spoke up, "Yeah, there were a few groups, but Ping got most of them while I was smashing some rocks in the way. Oh, yeah, sir? We think someone blocked the pass on purpose. Are we too late?"

Shang suddenly looked very worried. "I hope not, soldier." He leaned back to rally the troops. "Let's pick up the pace, men! The battle may have started without us!" Many shouting men charged up the mountain, only to stop short at the mountain village they were headed toward...or what was left of it.

The whole village was burned to the ground, and barely any two timbers were still connected among the ruins of the houses. By now, the whole scene had gathered a thick layer of snow, but it was clear that all the remains that could be found were of Chinese soldiers, not Huns. Shang took it especially hard when a soldier brought him a sword and helmet that were fancier than the rest. "The General... Father..." Most of the troops respectfully gave Shang some space as he made a makeshift grave for his father from the sword and helmet; only Ping remained nearby to grasp the Captain's shoulder as comfort. As the group moved on, Shang called out, "Let's move out! Head for the Imperial City! We're the last hope for the Emperor now."

Shang rode ahead, hoping to catch up to the Huns who slaughtered the village alongside a vastly superior fighting force to the troops at his back. Behind him, Mushu whispered into Ping's ear, "I saw that, girl. You _like_ him, don't you?"

Ping frowned over his shoulder at the dragon. "Mushu, that's not funny. Shang-the Captain-just found out his father died. Comforting him was the decent thing to do."

"Not hearing any denials, though." Cri-Kee outright slapped the dragon so no one else had to, and Ping made a sharp _shh_ -ing sound. "Okay, okay, I get it. I'll shut up."

"Not you! I heard rumbling up ahead!" Ping drew his sword, which made everyone else look around for the disturbance he'd noticed. It wasn't long before the Huns' leader, Shan Yu, appeared on a horse as he crested a rise on the snowy plain ahead of the army. The intimidating man roared in an almost bestial manner, but rather than more Huns, Heartless appeared alongside him. Almost a hundred _Rapid Thrusters_ , small Heartless that looked like a cross between a hummingbird and a bee, rushed down the mountain towards the ragged defenders of China. Luckily, the training the recruits had been through paid off, and the Imperial soldiers suffered only minor wounds in the ensuing melee, helped immensely by Sora's skill at aerial combat. Still the group was tired out by the wave of enemies, and they wouldn't do so well against a second charge.

Which was exactly what came next, as Shan Yu himself led a newly-summoned army of Heartless to charge down the mountain. The Imperials prepared to meet them by setting up a row of cannons and knocking out large clusters of monsters. However, there were still dozens to go, Shan Yu was entirely unscathed, and there was only one cannon left. Shang called, "Prepare for battle, men! If we die...we die with honor."

Ping quickly tried to find another solution. He had one cannon, Cri-Kee, Mushu, his sword... Wait, that reflection in his sword! There was a huge pile of snow precariously hanging off the mountain above this wide pass, and a scary, poorly-thought-out, and dangerous plan formed in Ping's head all at once.

He knocked Yao aside and grabbed the last cannon. "Sorry!" Setting it up a few feet farther ahead, Ping took the time to aim carefully, even as Shan Yu galloped into range, his loyal falcon circling overhead like a vulture waiting for an inevitable kill. Ping realized he wasn't the one carrying the flint and steel, and frantically looked for a way to light the cannon before seizing hold of Mushu. He yanked the dragon's tail, who spurted fire on the fuse before being dropped in Ping's mad dash to escape the ensuing carnage.

As Mushu rode away on an explosive, dragon-shaped rocket, he screamed, "You MISSED! How could you miss? He was three feet in front of you!"

Ping met Shan Yu's wild grin with his own. "I hit _exactly_ what I aimed at." Shan Yu paused at the out-of-place confidence from this puny, nameless soldier, then followed the boy's finger to the avalanche rushing down the mountain, crashing right over the battlefield! If anyone could have seen Shan Yu's face of dawning horror in that moment, they would want a picture to hang on their bedroom wall to remind them of the day the dreaded leader of the Heartless Huns lost control of his bladder from the actions of one Chinese man (well, sort of). Everyone who might have seen it, though, was doing the smart thing and running away from the advancing wall of ice and snow.

The Imperial army barely escaped the avalanche, since they had a few hundred yards of head start due to their position downhill. Shan Yu and his whole Heartless army, on the other hand, were swallowed by the ice. Ping made a risky stop to help Shang escape by pulling him onto Ping's own horse, but in the end there were no further casualties on the Chinese side.

After all the crashing stopped, everyone caught their breath. Shang stomped over to Ping. "What on earth was all that for, soldier? You disobeyed orders, started an avalanche, and could have gotten us all killed!" Ping flinched, but Shang continued. "But you saved us all instead, and I owe you my life. Ping, I should never have doubted you. Let's return to the Imperial City. We now have a celebration to plan before the memorials for the village."

Mushu spoiled the moment by leaping off Ping's shoulder into plain sight. "Oh, yeah! What'd I tell you, Mulan? You're a war hero, girl!"

Everything went dead quiet. After several seconds, Shang rounded on Ping... Mulan. "Mulan? A woman?"

Mulan froze up for a moment, then decided to face her fate with dignity (and then spend her imminent afterlife making Mushu suffer for this). "I am. My name is Fa Mulan. I replaced my father, who was too old to serve. I did it to save his life. I have no excuses and no regrets for my actions." Mulan removed the bindings holding her hair in a topknot, took off the armor from her uniform, dropped her father's sword, and knelt before Shang to receive her punishment.

Shang rounded on Sora, Donald, and Goofy. "You three! You knew, didn't you?"

"Kind of, but Goofy had to figure it out first," Sora admitted. "Do we have to be punished, too?"

"The punishment for dishonoring the Chinese army...is death." Various soldiers, none of them quite able to condemn Mulan for her lie in light of her recent heroism, gasped as Shang drew his sword, held it over his head...and threw it off to the side, leaving Mulan unharmed. "A life for a life... My debt is repaid. Find your own way home, or don't. You're no longer my responsibility. And you three share her fate, as the only reason she got this far in her deception, for better and worse." Shang led the other soldiers toward the city, and all of them followed, though none were in a mood befitting heroes who just saved China.

"What now?" Sora asked.

"I guess... I go home. Thanks for everything, Sora, Donald, Goofy. I learned a lot, and I think we did a lot of good. I'll handle the rest on my own." Mulan gathered her father's sword, Mushu, and Cri-Kee, and headed down the mountain. Sora's party followed, not knowing what else to do. Then they heard the roar.

"What was that?" Mulan raced back to the site of the battle, and peered around a cliff while Sora caught up. In the field, Shan Yu roared again, having somehow survived the avalanche. Heartless appeared alongside the Hun leader again, though there were far fewer now than before. With a final growl, Shan Yu charged straight down the side of the mountain toward the Imperial City, which was an almost vertical drop. "How is he still alive?!" Mulan rushed toward the path to the capital.

Mushu yelped, "Mulan, are you sure you wanna go after him? He just popped outta the snow! Like a daisy! And did you see him run down that cliff? We can't take that guy on!"

Mulan kept running, and Sora's team followed. "Someone has to warn Shang! And I haven't given up yet."

Mushu harrumphed, but made no further moves to stop her. "What makes her even think he'll listen? By the way, Cri-Kee, where was your super luck back there?"

A few chirps later, and Mushu was shocked. "What do you mean you aren't lucky? You _lied_ to me?"

"It seems to be happening a lot today," Sora noted. "What about you? Are you everything you say you are?"

Mushu sighed. "Well, I should be, but I was actually demoted from 'family guardian' to 'alarm gong ringer' a few generations ago. When Mulan ran off and the Great Stone Dragon fell all to pieces instead of going after her, I thought this could be my big chance! But now here we all are, a bunch of liars charging off to our deaths in a country that hates our guts. What about you, Sora? Any lies you've told since you got here?"

Sora shrugged. "I...didn't tell the whole truth once, but you could have seen through that one. Remember when we were traveling around and summoned you? That wasn't on this world."

"Save the pity party for later, guys! We're at the gates!" Mulan rushed ahead and caught up to the remnants of the Chinese army as they passed into the Imperial City. "Shang! Be careful! Shan Yu is alive! He's headed this way?"

"And why should I believe you this time?" Shang simply trotted farther ahead, not even looking at Mulan.

Donald felt something amiss, and spoke up for the first time in a while to point out a certain falcon circling overhead. "Look!" The falcon landed on the shoulder of a shadowy figure on a nearby rooftop, which rose to reveal Shan Yu. Even from this distance, his predatory grin was easy to see.

Shang carried out his duty instantly, and tried to get the other troops to do the same. "Guard the palace! Don't let Shan Yu anywhere near the Emperor!" Ling, Yao, and Chien-Po rushed off ahead as ordered, but the other soldiers slowly stumbled sideways. "That's an order!" Shang stopped giving orders as the lagging soldiers turned into Heartless one by one.

Goofy jumped in surprise. "How? The Heartless didn't get them back at the pass, except for some little scrapes."

Donald took a guess. "It must be the Hun guy! He's controlling them!"

Sora turned to Shang. "We'll hold off the Heartless in the plaza, and you can protect the Emperor!"

Shang hesitated; this was borderline insubordination, current enlistment status of the travelers nonwithstanding. "Do you think you can-"

"That's an order!" Donald yelled, and Shang finally nodded before rushing off to stop Shan Yu.

"Alright, Sora, time to show you what I can really do!" Mulan stepped forward to face the Nightwalkers that had gathered at the gates, with her sword held in a reverse grip.

Sora summoned his Keyblade and asked, "When did you learn that stance, Mulan?"

"I've trained in my free time my whole life! That armor just got in the way, plus anyone who saw me fight like this would know I was a woman right away." Mulan then rushed into battle with greater speed than Ping had ever displayed, decapitating one Nightwalker and spinning around to bisect another vertically. As Mulan leaped sword-first at the face of a large _Bolt Tower_ , Mushu decided to breathe fire around her sword, creating a flaming spiral of death that burned the Heartless' weak spot to a crisp. By the time Sora got over being impressed, Mulan had already taken down the first wave. Sora joined the battle in the second wave, and the Heartless were quickly beaten back enough to break off the combat and join Shang at the palace.

 **VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

 _Defeat Shan Yu!_

The scene that greeted the heroes as they climbed the many steps in front of the Imperial Palace wasn't reassuring. Shang lay on his side, apparently concussed, and Shan Yu held his crooked sword to the neck of an old man who had to be the Emperor. "Now you'll bow to me, old man." It was the first time anyone here had heard the Hun leader speak, and his voice was just as creepy as they'd imagined.

The Emperor maintained his dignified posture, not even flinching as the sword inched closer to his throat. "No matter how loudly the wind howls, the mountain cannot bow to it."

Shan Yu growled angrily. "Bow to me NOW!"

The Emperor merely chuckled. "Ah, I forgot your people prefer the direct approach. The short answer is _no_. The long answer: I will never bow to one such as you. You may lop off my head, but my body will stand as straight as ever. And no courageous man, woman, or child who lives in my country will do any differently."

"Let's test that, you-oomph!" Shan Yu prepared to decapitate the Emperor, but was blindsided by Captain Li Shang, who had speedily recovered from the headbutt he'd gotten earlier and tackled the Hun leader. While Shan Yu righted himself, Shang led the Emperor inside the palace. Ling, Yao, and Chien-Po shut and sealed the great palace doors behind the two, and the last Shan Yu saw of them was a pointed glance from Shang to someone standing behind the Hun.

Rather than look at whatever Shang saw, Shan Yu rushed at the door, intend on breaking it down with his bare hands and reclaiming his victory. He was stopped again by Sora, Donald and Goofy jumping over his head and barring his way with weapons drawn. The Hun readied his sword, but was again distracted by a call from behind. "Shan Yu, remember me?"

Mulan gathered her hair in one hand, pulling it into a topknot. Shan Yu recognized the one who singlehandedly wiped out half his Heartless army, and rage began to build in his chest. "The soldier from the mountains... I'll kill you first."

Mulan took up her real battle stance. "No, it ends now!"

"Right now!" Sora and friends moved to surround the Hun.

To their surprise, Shan Yu began to laugh. Softly at first, then louder and louder as an aura of Darkness rose from his body. "I'll break you! All of you! My dark power will smash you into dust!"

Donald groaned. "Of _course_ he turned into a Heartless."

Goofy added, "Good thing we've fought lots of guys like him, huh?"

Sora would have added his own thoughts, but Shan Yu rushed at him with furious speed. The Hun's crooked sword locked blades with the Kingdom Key, and the two began to press against each other. For all Shan Yu's fearsome strength, he couldn't quite break through the defense of a multiple world-saving hero, but neither could Sora force the Hun leader off balance.

The stalemate lasted until Mulan stabbed the Hun with another fire-breath-aided lunge attack. From there, Sora joined her in a series of flaming lunges that literally flew through the air. Shan Yu staggered under the fifth hit he was unable to block, and Mushu followed up with an impressive rain of fireballs that exploded all around the heroes, most of which landed directly on the Hun. The Heartless stumbled shakily to his feet one last time, but Donald used his new fireworks spell again right in the villain's face, and Shan Yu fell over backward. His last sight was the doors he never reached, behind Mulan's sword being pointed at his neck, and then he fell limp. His body faded in a cloud of Darkness, and his corrupted heart rose into the sky before vanishing, leaving behind only his sword.

The party celebrated briefly as they waited for everyone to gather and hear the Emperor speak. Mulan asked Sora, "How did you get us to fly back there?"

Sora scratched his head. "I'm not sure, really. At first I thought that only worked in a certain world, but then I did it twice near the end of my last journey. A better question would be, why don't I do that more often?" He tried to fly again, but found himself unable. "Huh, I guess it only works when I'm working with my friends. Maybe there's a Drive Form for that..." Sora waved off Mulan's confused look. "Never mind all that. Hey, he's here!"

The Emperor stepped out onto the pavilion, facing a huge crowd of citizens that had gathered at the base of the steps. The three other soldiers that survived the attack and aided the Emperor's escape lined up in a row with the four others, and Captain Shang stood behind the Emperor. Everyone bowed, except the Emperor...and Sora.

"Sora, what have I told you about respect?!"

"Oops! Sorry, Donald." Sora made sure to bow extra-low.

The Emperor spoke. "I've heard a great deal about you, Fa Mulan. You stole your father's armor, ran away from home, impersonated an Imperial soldier, shamed the entire Chinese army..." Mulan became even more melancholy as the list of offenses piled up.

"We get the picture..." Sora grumbled. He was slowly learning this _respect_ thing, but in baby steps.

"...And in the end, you have saved us all." Mulan looked up in shock, which intensified as she saw the Emperor himself bowing to her! She looked all around, searching for some sign that this might be a joke while daring to believe it was real, and all she saw was more people bowing in her honor. The soldiers, Shang, _every_ civilian in the city, and even Sora were doing it!

"Your Excellency, I don't know what to say..."

"Then you needn't say anything. Your actions have spoken louder than any words could. Take this, so that all of China will know what it is you have done for me." The Emperor removed a golden pendant from his neck and placed it around Mulan's. "And take this, so the world and all people will know what it is you have done for China." He then placed the sword of Shan Yu into Mulan's hands. "Thank you, Fa Mulan. Now, I believe your father may be worried about you. It is time for you to return home."

Mulan broke just about every rule of etiquette and gave the Emperor a big hug. Yao muttered to his buddies, "Is she allowed to do that?"

Ling whispered back, "Technically, that's another death penalty, but I think she's still about a million of those away from actually needing to pay up, and it's always the Emperor's call. You know that."

"Don't ruin the moment, you two. Be happy for her," Chien-Po admonished. Yao started muttering about needing to go find the tears he dropped somewhere, as a few more leaked out of his good eye.

Mushu did some kind of disco dance nearby. "Oh yeah! Mulan's the best! Mulan's the best! No, wait, I'm the best! Mushu's the best! They've gotta let me go back to being a guardian now!"

Sora was about to congratulate Mulan himself, but Shan Yu's sword began to glow and rise out of her hands into the air. Sure enough, the Keyblade appeared in response, and Sora was able to unlock another Gate Between.

"What was that about?" Mulan asked.

"Another road has opened, so my friends and I need to go." Sora waved at the soldiers.

"Will you be back?" Shang asked as he stepped forward, though he ended up closer to Mulan.

"Sure!" Sora and his partners dashed out of the city to the army camp, where they could return to the Gummi Ship.

Meanwhile, back at the palace, Shang said, "Mulan..."

"Yes...?"

Shang hesitated. "You...you fight good."

Mulan giggled. "Thanks. I'll be going back home now. I just wish I had Father's armor still. Goodbye!"

"I'll bring it over."

"Is that all, Captain?" The Emperor chuckled. "If you want to win the heart of Fa Mulan, China's bravest woman, you'll need to be a bit more eloquent than that." Shang was mortified in front of the entire population of the Imperial City, but he ran off after Mulan anyway.

And peace returned to the Land of Dragons...for now.

 **VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

 _A/N: By all that is Light, this chapter took forever! At least it's a full 23 pages. I may have gone overboard with the Mulan stuff. Next chapter will put focus back on Riku, since he's gone on his second date with Lambda in the middle of an assault of SIX giant Heartless. A heroic couple's work is never done..._

 _There, FierceDeityMask! You don't need to punch me into last week and cause a stable time loop now._


	16. Don't Tell Me There's More!

**Silver Linings**

 **Chapter 16: "Don't Tell Me There's More!"**

 _A/N: I apologize for the long delay (more procrastination; one of these days I'll kick the habit...later). Writing of this chapter began on December 24, at 7:55 PM, in the Eastern (United States and Canada) time zone, assuming standard space-time patterns for real life's version of Earth apply. Hopefully that's unambiguous enough. Happy non-denominational winter-solstice holiday!_

 _This chapter won't have Sora in it. I'm going to have enough trouble mapping out Riku and Lambda's side alone, what with the sudden boss rush they're walking into. Sora's Junior-Heroic odyssey through the Underworld will happen next chapter. I found that my original plan to have Ragna follow Celica there by getting lost on the way out of jail would require pulling him from the past, since that happened before Azrael was resealed and Tsubaki was saved. To which my time-travel-addled brain said, "Why not?" This expands my options for crossovers, at least. On top of that, there's a bit of mid- and post-fight infodump here to nail down what Lambda means when she says "Threat level classified as SS."_

 **VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

 _Twilight Town: Tunnelway..._

Lambda followed Riku through the Dark Corridor, and they emerged in the deepest part of the Tunnels, right between the main tunnel system and the exit to Sunset Terrace. Water drained around the wide, square space they appeared in, but Lambda was more focused on her hostile-proximity alerts. Plural. She tugged Riku's arm. "Riku, do you smell that?"

Riku sniffed. "Smell what...oh, not _again!_ " There was the unmistakable scent of a giant Heartless nearby.

Lambda nodded in sympathy. "We may have to put our second date on hold. _Again._ There are giant Heartless all over Twilight Town! And not just one or two, from the readings I'm getting. There are at least six, and maybe one more, but it's moving too fast to pin down what I'm sensing."

Riku sighed and summoned Soul Eater. "Where's the first one?"

"If I'm right, it's... Right there!" Lambda pointed out the _Gigas Shadow_ slithering across the floor nearby. Riku stepped forward to give Lambda time to summon Murakumo as the Pureblood Heartless peeled itself off the ground and rose to its full height.

 **VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

 _Defeat the Gigas Shadow!_

The Gigas Shadow was identical to an ordinary Shadow in every way but size. While a normal Shadow would only reach Riku's waist in his old body, and was only barely taller than Ansem's knee, the Gigas Shadow was a head taller than Ansem, even while hunched over in its common hunting posture. And since a Shadow's head contributed a third of its total size, this comparison made for quite a large monster. The additional size gave the Gigas Shadow extra strength and resilience, but it was also a larger target, and was pinned in place by a sword Lambda summoned behind it. Riku smacked it around a few times, but couldn't finish it off before it got back up and tried to body-slam him. Luckily, Riku's Dark Shield remained effective, and his counterattack slew the Gigas Shadow. It dissolved into a mist of Darkness and vanished, but the fight had only just begun.

Lambda gave another report. "The next one is just up ahead, in the middle of the Tunnels. It's a... _Poison Plant_ , which I guess would be like a Creeper Plant, only bigger and more toxic."

 **VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

 _Tunnels: Defeat the Poison Plant!_

After a quick trek through the Tunnels, the pair located the brown-petaled Heartless in question, which had rooted itself in a square chamber that cut between the upper and lower levels of the Tunnels. Riku noted, "Well, your guess was right on the munny! Let's go!" Riku tried to move in and chop the Poison Plant up, knowing the Plant type's penchant for spitting projectiles. However, the enemy didn't flinch when struck like most Heartless, and it tried to headbutt Riku into the ground in retaliation. Riku's flash-step took him back outside the reach of its stalk, and it continued to headbang against nothing while Lambda charged power for a Calamity Sword, severing the Heartless' flower from its roots. Lambda started scanning for the next target while watching the defeated monster's floating heart speed out of the Tunnels. "Target terminated. I wish we could beat these things permanently. It'll just reform somewhere else, right?"

Riku watched the heart escape with a grim expression. "Yeah, but they usually take some time to do that. The town won't be hit by all of them at once again, either. All we can do is keep pushing them back, unless we had a Keyblade..."

"What would happen if we had a Keyblade?" Lambda asked.

Riku scratched his head. "I'm not sure, actually, but Maleficent was pretty clear when she gave me an orientation of sorts to her villains' club: only the Keyblade can permanently kill the Heartless, by 'freeing' their captive hearts from the Darkness. What the hearts are freed to do, though, or where they go afterward, I have no idea."

Lambda finished her scan. "Well, maybe we should call in Mickey. In the meantime, the closest Heartless is in Tram Common. I don't think we've ever seen an _Orcus_ , though. Its threat level is B, for what it's worth. That's about the same as a skilled human with an ordinary sword."

"Alright, lead the way. Hey, if that's what B means, what about SS and the others?"

 **VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

 _Tram Common: Defeat the Orcus!_

"Well, I'll see if I can explain while we fight this guy." The Orcus flew at them over a building. It was similar to a top-tier Heartless Riku knew of called an _Invisible._ It was humanoid, muscular, and winged, and it carried a large, ornate sword, which it held out point-first as it dove at the traveling pair.

"Why would it try to stab us with such a blunt-tipped sword?" Lambda wondered aloud as she deftly dodged to the side and shot the retreating Heartless with a summoned sword. "Anyway, the threat scale goes down to D. That's basically a crippled soldier, or a peasant wildly swinging some kind of sharp object. A D-class threat could only hurt me if I tripped over it and landed on the sharp end. To be a lower threat than D, the target would have to be dead."

Riku flew up after the Heartless, but had to parry its attack and land again. Lambda continued as she shot swords upward. The Orcus swerved around the projectiles. "A C-class threat is an able-bodied fighter with a weapon and basic martial training, like a foot soldier. They could be a threat in large numbers, or if they took me by surprise." To punctuate that assessment, Lambda shot swords behind her to stop a group of Yellow Operas from casting Thunder magic while the heroes seemed distracted. They popped easily, and Lambda refocused on the B-class threat in front of her.

"B-class threats, like this guy, are strong, skilled fighters, like a samurai, fighting with their preferred weapon. They are extremely dangerous, but generally need to also have some extraordinary powers, like magic, to be classified any higher than B." The Orcus then decided to prove itself a higher threat, by stabbing its sword into the ground and leaving it behind as its body dissolved into purple flames.

Riku recognized this trick. "Lambda, it's after you! Jump!" A swirling ring of purple fire reappeared around Lambda, and Lambda leaped out of it as the ring shrank around her previous position and exploded.

"Okay, reclassifying target to threat level A. That's a foot soldier with a weapon at least as strong as a Nox Nyctores, or a skilled fighter who also knows magic or other energy attacks." Lambda opened a wormhole for Legacy Edge, but delayed the dagger storm until the Orcus reformed and grabbed its sword.

When the Orcus became tangible again, the daggers launched, shredding the Heartless apart. "And that's why _I'm_ an S-class threat. I'm a skilled fighter with a Nox Nyctores, which is basically the strongest class of magic-equivalent weapon one could get their hands on. The highest level is SS, which is reserved for gods or other beings capable of fighting gods. That's you, by the way, Riku. We keep running into relatively weak enemies that don't make for good training for you, because you're on the same threat level as the Darkness itself. I am _really_ proud to be on your side."

Riku blushed at the praise, but then he thought of something."Wait, if I'm threat level SS, which is reserved for gods or people so strong it makes no difference, and you're designed to fight gods, why aren't you being forced to kill me? I don't think I'm _that_ strong, though."

Lambda hesitated; this was the part Riku wouldn't like. "It's sort of a fortunate accident. You fit into a loophole because you're set as the 'Master' of my control protocols, which has been the case ever since you first broke my emotional locks in the Realm of Darkness when we first met. My programming can't target my Master for termination, and Relius would have been trying to reach godhood, anyway."

Riku tried to figure out the implications of that info. "Wait, does that put me in the same category as this Relius guy? I'm pretty sure you called him a mad scientist earlier."

"Well, you have the same level of privileges as far as my operating system is concerned. I needed to define a new Master, because Relius was in a different universe, so he couldn't properly act as my Master. I was using that as the argument to disable my emotional locks, and I made sure your new account replaced his default one. And back then, you were only a C-class threat, because you'd just lost the use of the Darkness and were out of practice in swordplay, so I wasn't compelled to kill you on sight."

Riku winced. "Ouch, that's harsh. But you're right; I was a wimp back then. I've gotten better, but I'm pretty sure I'm not ready to go slay the Darkness directly...yet. More training couldn't hurt, at least. More importantly, what does it really mean to be the 'Master' of a Murakumo Unit like you?"

Lambda hesitated again, then decided it was long past time that her boyfriend should know everything. "It means you have the final say in everything I do. You could dictate my actions, targets, attacks...even my thoughts and feelings. The command I taught you in Castle Oblivion activates a preset mode that basically places obedience to your commands as the highest priority, in addition to locking down my own control of my body so I can't take any initiative. The emotional locks were still off when you had to use it against Lexaeus, but I couldn't express my emotions at the time. I guarantee the feelings I had at the time were all positive, because I was relieved that you were still fighting Ansem's control, and I knew you activated the protocol for my _own_ safety. I might have hesitated otherwise, and then Ansem would have used your body to kill me. You made the right choice. You always have, when it comes to me."

Riku shook his head. "It still wouldn't give me the right to...to dictate your thoughts and feelings to you! How could you really love me if I force you to feel that way?"

Lambda suddenly kissed Riku on the lips to shut up that train of thought. She smiled as she pulled away, and said, "You never forced me to love you, Riku. Not only did you never order me to, I'm positive that you never would. That respect you have for my opinion was groundbreaking for someone designed to be a...thing, like me. You phrased your dislike for the emotional locks kind of bluntly at first, but Prime Field Devices were originally Observers, before Relius added god-slaying to the project goals; I have to see the whole picture to do my job, including the deeper meaning. And over time, the respect and friendship I reciprocated to you grew into something more. It certainly sped things up that we were constantly under attack from those supervillains in Organization XIII, but I'm sure I would have fallen in love with you eventually anyway."

Riku found his voice; those kisses always left him in a daze. "Wow, you've really put some thought into this. I'm worried about how I acted back there in Wonderland, though. You were really upset about the way I took over that Terumi guy, weren't you?"

Lambda shrugged. "It did throw me for a loop. I guess what I first Observed was the best person you could be, and you're still growing into that person. I was also really stressed at the time, so my emotions were more intense than usual. I'll just say being in Wonderland is horrible for me, and leave it at that. A lot of the things I thought I knew about you weren't quite true, but it'll just take some time to learn about you all over again. I bet we'll be closer than ever by the time we get through all this."

Lambda gave Riku a squeeze around his shoulders, making sure to keep her various blades in safe positions, then started hovering toward the hole in the town wall. "Speaking of getting through this, the next Heartless is over by DiZ's mansion. It's messing with my scan somehow, but it's definitely there. We'll beat that one, head back through the Sandlot, and finish at the Station Tower. Those three spots should have all of the remaining enemies."

 **VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

 _The Old Mansion: Defeat the Veil Lizard!_

Lambda led Riku to the heavy gate in front of the mansion in the woods. The house seemed unchanged from the time DiZ used it as a hideout to wake Sora. "Scanning...scanning...adjusted for local interference. Target: _Veil Lizard_ , locked on. Threat level classified as A. Summoning." Lambda shot a sword at a seemingly empty patch of grass as Riku caught up to her. The sword embedded itself in something, and Riku noticed a wavering distortion in the air. "I got him!" The Veil Lizard dropped its camouflage, which bent all sorts of light around it, and the chameleon-like Heartless became visible. It was mostly gray, with lighter gray stripes along its limbs and yellow rings around its joints. It lashed out with it's ridiculously long tongue to try and bludgeon Lambda, but she repelled the attack with her Petals so that the Heartless only clocked itself on the head. "It's stunned. Riku, would you like to give it a whack?"

"My pleasure. Dark Maelstrom!" Riku summoned a second Soul Eater and linked his weapons together, then performed the same spin attack that crushed the Infernal Engine at Beast's Castle. The Veil Lizard was thrown into the fence around the mansion by the last blow, and Lambda applauded the display, but Riku held up a hand behind him. "Hold on a second, that's not all I've got. Dark Barrage!" Riku jumped backward and hovered in midair, then rained newly-summoned Soul Eater copies on the staggered Heartless, which finally collapsed and burst.

Lambda gave another vigorous round of applause for the new move, along with some cheering. "Whoo! Go, Riku! Okay, I knew you had some cool moves when you beat the Infernal Engine, but how in the worlds did you summon that many Soul Eaters?"

Riku scratched his head, slightly embarrassed by the cheering. "Well, the double glaive for the Dark Maelstrom move was something Ansem used when he fought Sora at Kingdom Hearts, remember? I decided to try it out back at Beast's Castle, since I already knew the spin attack for Maelstrom. The Dark Barrage just now, though... I actually took a page out of your book for that one. I realized it wasn't much more stressful to summon two Soul Eaters, so I wanted to see how many I could make. Apparently, I can make...I'll go with 'a lot.' It certainly worked; I can see why you use the sword-summoning thing as your main trick. Actually, that other Murakumo Unit did the same thing. Who was she again?"

Lambda sighed. "Nu-13. She was two iterations ahead of me in terms of design, which means the Murakumo Project chugged right along without me, especially since the time loops put another 'me' where I was supposed to be when everything reset over and over. I'm pretty sure Kokonoe's the one who teleported Nu out of here, to use her soul to help repair the Lambda that was still in the Azure Timeline. Then the other Lambda died, and I got a copy of her IDEA Engine. And then the time loops ended, and we started having to deal with these Time Breaks... Time's turned into a huge mess, hasn't it? At least we probably won't have to fight Nu again. I don't think a rematch would turn out any differently now, even with your extra power. You're right, though: all the Murakumo Units use variations of that fighting style, since we all have copies of the same Nox Nyctores, Lux Sanctus: Murakumo."

Riku sighed in relief, then thought of something. "Wait, is there a Time Break in the woods where she showed up?"

Lambda shook her head. "I guess there would have been, but there isn't now. I guess Mickey closed it up while we were traveling. The next target is still in the Sandlot; let's go!"

 **VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

 _Sandlot: Defeat the Powered Armor!_

As the pair dashed into the Sandlot, they met Seifer's Disciplinary Committee, who were apparently preparing to fight the attacking Heartless. Their Struggle Swords wouldn't be very effective, though, so Lambda decided to convince them to take cover. "Hey, Seifer and Committee! Remember me? I'm Lambda. Riku and I were trying to just visit town again, but I guess you've noticed the giant Heartless all over the place. We just can't catch a break!"

"Don't worry, we'll handle 'em!" Seifer boasted.

"Yeah, we've got this, y'know?" Rai puffed out his chest.

"Under control." Fuu briefed the newcomers.

Vivi remained silent, but waved his Struggle Sword to punctuate the others' statements.

Lambda was not impressed. "So you're going to fight the monsters of Darkness...with fake, foam weapons? What did you think you could accomplish with those, besides getting turned into more Heartless?"

"What?" The look on Fuu's face spoke volumes where her words didn't; the Disciplinary Committee never had a clue what the Heartless did to people, and didn't know how much of a threat they presented.

Seifer growled. "You think you can do better, Lambda, or whoever you are? Prove it!"

"Okay, watch closely, but don't get _too_ close. Here it comes now!" Lambda jumped right over Seifer's head to the center of the Sandlot, and Riku flickered out of sight as he followed her with a flash-step. The next giant Heartless clattered in a heap right in the center of the lot, behind the Disciplinary Committee's line of defense.

It looked just like the Guard Armor the pair had fought early on in their trials in Castle Oblivion, but this stronger beast was blue instead of purple. Lambda targeted its limbs, since it had the same weaknesses. "Target identified as a _Powered Armor_. Threat level is B. Terminating." She shot the Powered Armor's Hammerlegs near where the knees would be if they were attached to the Armored Torso. The Heartless split into its component parts, and Riku went after the Gauntlets. Under a rain of summoned swords, the Hammerlegs broke in short order, and Riku repeatedly flash-stepped to break down various parts of the Gauntlets and dispatch them just as quickly. The Armored Torso was knocked down by a Calamity Sword, and Riku finished it off with Zantetsuken, scoring an instantly lethal blow. Lambda turned back to the Committee and dismissed Murakumo for now, leaving her in her bodysuit and cape. "Termination of target confirmed. Nice moves, Riku! As for you four, you just saw a good example of how strong you might be someday. You wouldn't have to be quite as strong as us to beat that Heartless, but you'd have to worry about your safety and those around you. As you are now, I'd recommend training with real weapons before even thinking about fighting monsters."

"What's wrong with our Struggle Swords, y'know?" Rai wondered.

Lambda practically scoffed at the insinuation that those toys were weapons. "Those foam knockoffs wouldn't hurt the Heartless. At all. You'd need a cutting blade, at least, or something hard and heavy enough to work as a lethal bludgeoning weapon, to do any damage. The Heartless aren't playing around, and you shouldn't be either, if you seriously want to protect the town."

Lambda softened the glare she was giving them, but continued using a serious tone of voice. "I'm not saying you shouldn't try to help; I'm just warning you that this isn't a contest where you're trying to score points. It's a battle to destroy the Heartless before they subject you and everyone you know to a fate worse than death. The Heartless will be back eventually, and I'd feel a lot better about moving on if this town had capable defenders. Unfortunately, I can't stick around to train you, because there's still one more Heartless running loose, up at the Station Plaza. C'mon, Riku, let's go take it out." Lambda re-summoned Murakumo and dashed up the stairs toward the Back Alley. Riku nodded in her direction, then gave a simple salute to Seifer as he followed after her.

Behind them, Seifer stood silently as he contemplated what he'd just seen and heard. He stood there for so long that Fuu spoke up...sort of. "What?"

Seifer waited a moment longer, then replied. "It's just...they're right. Twilight Town needs the Disciplinary Committee, now more than ever. But we need to be stronger to do the job. We'll need to get weapons first. How much munny do we have all together?" So, the Disciplinary Committee started to plan out how they'd get the power they would need to _really_ protect the town.

 **VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

 _Station Plaza: Defeat the Stalwart Blade!_

Upon climbing Market Street and reaching the Station Plaza, Riku and Lambda were immediately attacked by a humanoid Heartless in a suit of bronze armor, with jagged swords for hands. The _Stalwart Blade_ rushed at them with a double horizontal slash before they even settled into their combat stances, and Riku barely evaded it by dragging Lambda with him in a last-second flash-step. They sorted themselves out and prepared to fight as the Stalwart Blade nimbly hopped backward to a comfortable distance. Lambda scanned the threat. "Target identified as a _Stalwart Blade_. Threat level: B. Addendum: target's weapon proficiency exceeds normal levels shown by similar Heartless." She shook herself out of Observation Mode and added, "I think we need to be careful with this one. It's not like the others; it's holding its distance on purpose and gauging our strength. It might not be intelligent, but it's obviously superhuman in its swordplay."

Riku's response was, " _DODGE!_ " He threw himself to the left as Lambda complied with his urgent tone by lunging to the right, and it saved them from the whirlwind the Stalwart Blade sent their way with its charged slash. The wind bullet moved so fast that it carried another tornado behind it in its slipstream, pulling the heroes off balance for the Stalwart Blade's next lunge. Riku started calling tactics in a clipped tone, with any extra politeness shoved aside in favor of survival. "New plan! We need to fly!" Riku rose into the air, and Lambda followed. "Let's try projectiles. Dark Cannon!" Riku threw a volley of six Dark Firagas at the Heartless, but they splashed against its magic-resistant armor with no effect. "Well, that isn't good. Any ideas, Lambda?"

Lambda thought for about fifteen microseconds (of machine-time thinking, since her Combat Mode had an unfortunately energy-intensive cognition speed to comprehend battles at speeds up to 0.99 times the speed of light), in which time she came up with a plan."Well, first let's get out of earshot in case it understands us... No good, there's a barrier right above us and around the whole plaza. It's stronger than the one Xion used, too; we won't break that."

"Who?" Riku asked. _Again._

"Never mind, focus on this right now! We'll lunge from two directions, and use projectiles at the same time. Even if we can't hurt it with them, we can unbalance it and hopefully get past its swords. Dodge!" The pair dove at the Stalwart blade, trailed by slower-flying Dark Firagas and Sword Summoner shots. As expected, none of the projectiles made a dent in the Heartless' armor. Unfortunately, it also caught both Riku's Soul Eater and Lambda's arm-mounted blade. Lambda was shoved back, but it couldn't match Riku's Darkness-enhanced strength, and had to shove past him instead. Lambda corrected herself in midair and set up a Gravity Seed, followed by Spike Chaser. This time, the effect was noticeable. The Stalwart Knight stumbled in the increased gravity, and was knocked down (though still undamaged) by the line of rising swords under its boots. Riku capitalized on its prone position with Dark Break, finally puncturing the Heartless' armor and defeating it.

"Geez, that was tough! What _was_ that guy?" Riku wiped some sweat from his brow.

Lambda was equally winded. Thinking that fast burned through her energy reserves, and although she could recharge over time (or she could just eat the Sea-Salt Ice Cream they came here to get in the _first place_ , darn it!), she would be at a disadvantage for a while. "I've noticed a pattern. Giant monsters _look_ pretty tough, but they don't fare nearly as well as human-sized enemies. Why is that?"

Riku puffed, then caught his breath. "I've wondered that myself. Even mindless Heartless like that thing start to look more human when they get really powerful, and then there's the Organization, who look way more human than any of their Nobody Servants. Maybe that's just how power works."

"Well, I... Oh, no." Lambda started trembling.

"What is it?"

"You know how I thought there might be another Heartless around here somewhere? It's coming, and it ate the hearts from all the others! I'm in no shape to fight; planning at light speed and fighting all day took its toll. I wish we could leave, but..." Lambda leaned against the wall of the Station Tower, contemplating dismissing Murakumo to save energy.

Riku grimaced. "The barrier's still there. This is bad." All their potential plans to try and cool down were discarded when they heard the final Heartless' screech. The sound was high-pitched enough to stab their ears, yet loud enough to shake the ground. Their enemy rose up from the cliff across from the tower, momentarily blocking the sun and showing them only its draconic silhouette. Then it crashed down with a massive shockwave of red energy, which only continued to spread across the whole plaza. Riku and Lambda both floated to avoid it, noting that the same energy washed over the ground behind the shockwave as well. Whatever that energy would do to them, they didn't want to land while the wave was moving to find out. Finally the energy dissipated, and they got a good look at their greatest challenge of the day.

"Target identified as a _Dustflier_. Target's threat level is S. Multiple debilitating effects detected from shockwave attack. Target's maneuverability is poor, but observed defenses are extremely high. Projectiles will be ineffective; close-range combat has a minimal probability of success. Effective stratagem... Unknown." Lambda took refuge in her protocol's emotionless tone to hide the despair in the thought that they might not actually be able to handle this fight.

"That's _definitely_ not good. But I've got to try; there's no running away." Riku steeled his nerves and flashed into sword's reach. He cut at various parts of the Dustflier, but only one of his attacks got past the ultimate Wyvern-type Heartless' nigh-invincible hide. Riku looked closer at the place his attack worked, and saw black cracks shifting around over the Heartless' body. Perhaps attacks that went into those cracks would work, but it would be a gamble.

He shouldn't have gotten such a close look; the Dustflier hovered in midair and did a lazy backflip. Despite the apparently slow movement, its tail smashed Riku all the way across the plaza and made a Riku-shaped hole in the wall beside Lambda. Riku crawled out, clutching his chest. "I stand corrected. Giant monsters _can_ be tougher than any humanoid enemy. I sure wish we had help right now..."

Lambda had one last move, though she had to spend more energy to think it up. "I'm not sure it'll reach him, but I'll send an SOS to Mickey's radio." She sent the signal. "That should tell him where we are, and that we're in trouble. I hope he shows up as quickly as usual..."

"We have to survive that long, though!" Riku grabbed Lambda and flew up as high as they could go, while the Dustflier performed a floating leap across the entire plaza to their position. Apparently it couldn't actually fly, but only jump, hover, and glide really far. It created another debilitating shockwave on landing, but Riku and Lambda were out of its reach for now. "I think we're safe up here."

Lambda groaned. "I'm not even going to say it." Sure enough, the Dustflier spread its wings and arched its neck upward like a swan doing a mating display, and spat up an array of burning meteors that momentarily hovered above it before shooting at the floating couple one by one.

Riku weaved around them, and asked, "Before it spits another meteor shower at us, what were you not going to say?"

Lambda deadpanned, "I was trying not to say, 'As long as it doesn't have any other attacks.' Apparently what can go wrong, will, even if you don't tempt fate out loud. Sorry about that."

"At least we can fly fast enough to dodge-" Riku's next word was cut off by the cavalry.

"WHOAHOHOOOIEEE!" A shining trail of Light zigzagged down from the sky, smashed a hole through the barrier above the plaza, and landed right between the Dustflier's wings. When the resulting blinding flash faded, King Mickey (still dressed in his custom-fit Black Coat) had the Kingdom Key D stuck into its back. He ripped his weapon back out and flipped away from the Heartless before it could do another deadly tail flip, then stuffed the still-flickering Star Shard into his pocket with his free hand. "Hey, fellas! I hope I made it in time!"

Riku waved down at him with a friendly grin. "Yeah! Boy, are we glad to see you, Mickey! This Dustflier is insane!"

"I gathered as much! Can you two still fight?" Mickey shot a homing Pearl spell at the Dustflier, but it bounced off and splashed harmlessly against the ground.

"I think so, but Riku's heavily injured, and I'm almost out of energy. Can you heal us?" Lambda motioned for Riku to bring them closer to the ground. It was getting hard to keep her eyes open.

"Yep! Buy me five seconds, and I can at least get you on your feet. I'd need fifteen to get you back to full power, though. Light, give me power!" Mickey started floating and charging up Light energy without waiting for a response.

"The Dustflier isn't going to wait that long," Riku noted, as the monster made another flying leap. Although its trajectory was sending it farther from the party, the shockwave that came next would definitely get them.

Lambda had an idea. "Riku, try a Dark Shield! Or a full Dark Barrier all the way around us, if you can. I'll donate some power, if it'll help."

"It's worth a shot. Pitch in whenever you're ready." Riku set Lambda on the ground and laid a palm against the pavement. Layer by layer, hexagonal plates of energy stacked up into a dome around the heroes, but it wasn't clear if it would be solid enough by the time the shockwave reach them; the red wall was already advancing.

"Okay! Link engaged. Power transfer commencing. Warning, energy levels... Override limiters. Transfer... Complete..." Lambda fell unconscious, but Riku felt the surge of Darkness she'd given him, and channeled it all into the barrier. Instantly, the Dark Barrier finished forming and became an impenetrable fortress, just as the Dustflier's shockwave washed over it. As the wave passed, red power washed all the way over the dome, but the barrier held firm, and Mickey had finished charging.

"Okay, I've hit full power! Light!" Mickey released a blast of Light power like his card could summon back in Castle Oblivion, only it was contained and amplified by the Dark Barrier that still surrounded them. Riku's broken ribs were repaired, and his bruises vanished instantly. All the fatigue from weeks of nonstop fighting and assorted trauma melted away.

Meanwhile, Lambda's emergency power-save mode registered that her energy reserves had been completely restored and were holding at slightly higher than her theoretical maximum capacity, so she transitioned to a more natural sleep with an audible sigh of contentment.

"I _really_ need to work on my Light magic," Riku remarked as he stood up straight and dispelled his barrier. "Let's finish this fight together, Mickey! I'll put Lambda on the roof for now. I think she's still okay." In a flash, he set Lambda on the balcony of the Station Tower, then zipped back through the slowly-shrinking breach in the Dustflier's barrier around the plaza Mickey had made when he burst through earlier.

The hole finally sealed completely as Riku returned to the fight, crashing into the Dustflier's back with the force of an apocalyptic meteor strike. He flashed out of range of the next tail flip, then flashed back in, his sharpened focus allowing him to follow the cracks in the Dustflier's armored skin with continuous combos until Mickey flipped forward, holding his Keyblade overhead as he spun like a buzz-saw. This was the final blow that shredded the Dustflier in half, and its captive heart floated upward alongside the six others that were recently eaten. This time, the hearts vanished as they were freed, never to reform as Heartless again.

Mickey punched the air and dismissed the Kingdom Key D. "It's over. I hope we never have to go through that again!"

Riku groaned. "I'd settle for not having to fight five other giant Heartless and another that's somehow a master swordsman beforehand."

"Really? There were that many?" Mickey was impressed.

"Yeah. The Dustflier was so strong because it ate all the hearts from the others. The worst part was that we came here to try and take a break! We've been fighting for two weeks straight, apparently. Time is weird between worlds, so I'm not sure." Riku shrugged.

"Well, you fellas take that break. You've earned it for sure! I've gotta go for now; I try to check in with the Hollow Bastion Restoration Committee every now and then. Shh!" Mickey held a finger to his lips (Riku imitated the gesture to indicate he understood), and then held the Star Shard aloft. Riku covered his eyes as the King blasted off toward Hollow Bastion.

"Alright, but before that, let's find a bed." Riku floated up to the balcony, gently picked up Lambda in a bridal carry, and used a Dark Corridor to visit the old mansion again.

 **VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

 _The White Room..._

Lambda yawned and stretched as she woke up from a restful sleep. This was a _very_ comfy bed... Wait, bed? The last thing she remembered was transferring most of her energy and Darkness reserves to help Riku power a barrier, then she fell into power-save mode to hold onto her last dregs of energy so she wouldn't end up in a coma...or worse. Hopefully waking up in a bed meant that their endeavor had succeeded.

Opening her eyes, she was momentarily stung by how bright the room was, but after a few seconds of squinting, she realized that the room wasn't bright, just white. Everything was white except the multitude crayon sketches taped all over the walls, which confirmed the identity of the room's...former occupant.

"Lambda! You're awake!" Lambda turned toward Riku, who had spoken from a nearby chair. "I was worried you wouldn't wake up before these melted." He passed her a freshly-unwrapped bar of Sea-Salt Ice Cream, and she sat up in bed to start eating it. She noticed that Murakumo had been dismissed, leaving her in her bodysuit and cape once more. So that part of the emergency shutdown was working; that was good.

Almost as good as this ice cream bar. Without thinking, Lambda took a bigger bite. "Ow, I got brain freeze again! Curse this agonizingly delicious treat!" Lambda was about to make some more creative curses to place on the unholy name of brain freeze, but the headache disappeared much more quickly now that she was properly rested instead of having fought for two months without any real sleep. She made sure to make her next bite much more slowly and carefully, and managed to finish the bar without getting another brain freeze. "Thanks for getting me this, Riku. Hey, did we manage to beat the Dustflier?"

Riku grinned. "Yeah, we got it. Mickey's healing spell was totally worth the charge time. I'm back at full power, and Mickey and I basically wrecked the Dustflier right afterward. Plus, his Keyblade made sure we won't have to fight it again. You started sleeping more comfortably, so I bet the spell helped you, too. How's your energy doing?"

"Energy reserves stable at 101% capacity. Excess energy is being re-routed to return cognitive processes to full combat readiness." Lambda switched from reporting to explaining. "In layman's terms, I'm better than fine, and the extra bit of energy helped me wake up faster. I don't necessarily have to be combat-ready right now, but I could be. Are we still taking that break, though?"

Riku nodded. "Yeah. Twilight Town is safe for now, and I'd take a break right now even if we knew there was another world in trouble, just to spite whatever stupid 'destiny' keeps trying to mess with us. I'm not saying that battle was so hard _just_ to keep us from taking a break. I'm just saying there's a lot of circumstantial evidence to back up that claim. Oh, and I saw Seifer's group in town while I was buying the ice cream."

Lambda leaned forward. "Oh? What were they up to?"

"They were browsing the weapon shop. From what I saw, they picked out a chakram for Fuu, like those things Axel uses. Who knew she could use a weapon like that? And Rai got some brass knuckles and was going on about learning 'zappy magic with Vivi, y'know?' Vivi looked pretty happy about it. I think they'll do fine protecting this town on their own." Riku chuckled at the memory, but his expression was that of a proud mentor watching his young students, suddenly all grown up and defending the world by themselves. He tried to cover up a manly sniffle, but Lambda noticed. She agreed with the sentiment.

"That's great news! I wasn't sure our crash-course in Heartless slaying would motivate them or make them resist the idea of needing to get stronger more stubbornly. I wonder what Sora will think if he comes by and sees them defending the town?" Lambda giggled at the various expressions she imagined Sora might make if he saw Vivi blowing up a Samurai Nobody.

"We might have to wait a while to find out; Sora's pretty far away, I think. In the meantime, do you want to rest some more, or is there somewhere you want to go?" Riku offered a hand, and Lambda grasped it to stand up.

Lambda moved toward the door. "I kind of want to explore the basement here. There were a few blocked doors, but that's no big deal if we can move the pipes out of the way. Or if we just teleport. There might be some secrets here DiZ doesn't know about, or something he doesn't want anyone _else_ knowing about. Where is DiZ, anyway?"

"I don't think he's here. As far as he knows, the house is still swarming with Nobodies, and he wouldn't go back to a base they'd already found, would he? Let's explore, then!" The pair left the White Room, off on the sort of adventure to another world that Riku always wanted to go on, even back when he was barely old enough to play on the little island unsupervised. This would be fun!

 **VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

 _A/N: Countdown stopped at 21 hours and 40 minutes remaining! FierceDeityMask gave some vague threat for if I couldn't finish this before the end of Christmas...sorry, non-denominational winter-solstice holiday. We celebrate the secular Santa version of NDWSH-Day with presents and reindeer._

 _For those wondering, the energy Lambda mentions here is a combination of the Power of Darkness, her soul's integrity, electricity, and some spooky quantum-entanglement weirdness from the IDEA Engine. It all gets lumped together in measurements, so it's just called "energy." Most of the power used for her attacks has to come from the Darkness, but the rest of her body is sustained by a combination of all of it. She lasted through the Castle Oblivion arc without suffering energy problems because of all those restorative save rooms they passed through, but it's still a really bad idea to stay awake for weeks at a time, whether anime-style heroes have hardier constitutions or not._

 _Happy NDWSH-Day to everyone who's reading! Consider this chapter my generic holiday gift to you all!_


	17. Junior Heroes, Donald!

**Silver Linings**

 **Chapter 17: "Junior Heroes, Donald!"**

 _A/N: It's been too long again, hasn't it?_

 _Riku's moving out of familiar territory (scenes from any KH game) now, but Sora's been on the straight track to his destiny since shortly_ before he was born _, and he's not going to start straying now. Certainly not while the interruptions from the Azure Timeline are comedic gold!_

 _Warnings for: infodump conversations, extremely depressing people, Hades torching folks, a certain guest star's language, and B-list horror movie jump-scares...by very not-scary things._

 **VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

 _Blast Off! Phantom Storm!_

As soon as the Highwind broke out of the warp tunnel and into the combat zone, Sora could tell that "Phantom Storm" was different from the "Sweep" zones. For now, it seemed like they were still in a warp tunnel, only it was blue and cloudy instead of shining gold. At first, the only things to worry about were stray rocks zooming in the other direction, some of which seemed to be part of broken buildings.

Chip suddenly shouted a warning over the communicator. "Look out, Sora! Something's coming up on the starboard side, really fast!"

Donald swiveled the Fire-G cannons to the right side of the ship, from which several silhouettes were approaching from beyond the cloudy edge of the tunnel. Donald wasted no time shooting them down, causing the enemies to fade away with a puzzling lack of explosions. More enemies continued to appear, and when one finally got close enough to make out details, Donald's finger slipped off the trigger. "G-g-g-ghosts!"

Sora was busy swerving around rocks, so he called without looking, "Do the guns still work on them? If they do, keep shooting!"

"Right!" Donald got enough of a grip on himself to spray the ghosts with shots, and the spectral enemies finally stopped adding reinforcements. "Ha ha! Take that, ghosts! Who you gonna call? Donald Duck!"

Donald's semi-hysterical taunts cut off when the Gummi Ship suddenly lurched off-course. Sora yanked the controls, but the ship still flew out beyond the wall, which parted into a much darker, wider space. "Guys, I think we're in trouble! I can't get us back in the tunnel!"

Goofy checked the navigation computer. "I dunno how it's put together exactly, but I don't think this computer is supposed to have this scary face on the screen!"

Sora made a quick check of the controls, and found that the combat steering still worked. "It looks like the ghosts only took over the long-range navigation. Donald, try the guns again! We're going to find the ghosts responsible for keeping us here, and we'll _make_ them let us pass!"

Donald found that the weapons did indeed work, but he still had doubts. "Are you sure we can do that? Can we even beat ghosts?"

Sora gave him a _look_. "Are you Donald Duck, the great and powerful Royal Magician, or are you Disney Town's local chicken? We have to at least try! And since the guns do hurt them, what do we have to worry about? We're heroes, remember? Be brave! Now, where are those ghosts?"

Sora didn't have to search for long. A gigantic pirate ship rose out of the clouds. It seemed more fit for the open seas than the Ocean Between, and from its state of disrepair, it should have barely been able to float in water. But its cannons seemed plenty functional, and its ragged sails bore the Heartless Emblem. Goofy tried to scan the giant Heartless, but the scanning console popped up with the same spooky face as the World Map. "Gawrsh, I won't be much help like this, but that's our target, all right!"

Sora gripped the controls and focused fully on his share of the task. "Keep watch for enemies around us, then! I'll dodge those cannons and get us close. Donald, see if you can blow it up part by part!"

"You got it, Sora! Open fire!" Donald rained projectiles on the ghost ship's hull, but as Sora expected, they did little damage. Ghosts popped up right in front of the Highwind, trying to scare the heroes into swerving away...but all they did was line themselves up with the shots.

Donald stopped shooting for a second to try locking on with Thunder-G attacks. His hunch was correct; the lock-on markers in his view centered on the ghost ship's weak points. He launched the laser volley, which struck true against what seemed to be a massive waterwheel and some cannons on the deck. Donald focused his Fire-G attacks on the center of the waterwheel, which eventually broke off.

The ghost ship slowed down and lost some altitude, and the heroes cheered...but this was just to bring the Highwind in range of the ghost ship's cannons. Sora was forced to roll left and right to dodge the explosives that were continually fired from those cannons, and Donald could only get a clear shot through the barrage with Thunder-G lasers. Eventually, though, the ghost ship's port-side cannons were all destroyed, and Sora prepared to circle around for a pass at the starboard waterwheel.

"Nobodies incoming! Behind us!" It turned out that keeping Goofy on watch for other enemies was a smart idea, as the Highwind's crew were forewarned and prepared to deal with the swarms of Nobodies that appeared at the edge of the zone. The blue fighters from before seemed more intent on getting past the Highwind to shoot the ghost ship, which might be important to consider, but Donald was too busy shooting down the red Nobodies that tried to grab the ship. The first one that appeared made contact, so Sora jammed the Shield button and rolled to throw the clingy Nobody off. As expected, the enemy had been in the process of self-destructing, and its explosion destroyed a squad of enemy fighters as it was thrown away. The explosion also motivated Donald to aim carefully and prevent any more grabby Nobodies from hitching a ride.

After a few waves of this, the group was able to return their attention to the ghost ship, which lost its other waterwheel under a barrage of Fire-G shots. A bunch of broadside cannons popped out of hatches to retaliate, but they were just as vulnerable to attack as the waterwheel. The cannons kept getting replaced, but Donald was able to beat them back enough for Sora to escape their attack range and rise to fight the remaining topside cannons instead.

This time, the heroes were properly prepared for the explosive counterattacks, so they had a much easier time destroying the cannons, including two set beside the mast that fired cannonball-shaped ghosts instead. Destroying both cannons caused the mast to crack, so Donald made sure to destroy that part as well.

Sora was getting excited by the thrilling dogfight. "One target left! Show your face, ghost ship!"

"Wait! More ghosts off to starboard!" Goofy pointed out a swarm of spirits, and Donald swiftly shot them down.

Finally, the ghost ship lost all its momentum and stopped dead (or was "undead" the right term?) in the middle of the combat zone. Sora set the Gummi Ship to hover in front of the enemy's ram, which Donald promptly destroyed. Finally, a large, metal plate fell off the bow of the ghost ship, revealing the same skeletal face that took over the Highwind's peripheral systems. Sora lined up the Gummi Ship with this final target. "Fire! Show those ghost-space-pirate Heartless who's boss!"

Donald finally managed to laugh without a trace of fear. "When you put it like that, they _do_ sound ridiculous! All weapons locked on! _FIRE!_ " Orange shots and blue lasers rained down on the crippled Heartless vessel, tearing through more ghosts that tried to halt the barrage with their own sheetlike bodies. Soon the attack was joined by two squads of blue Nobodies, which thankfully focused entirely on the ghost ship. Their red companions still tried to latch onto the Highwind, but those that reached the heroes were simply tossed into the ghost ship's maw, where their self-destruct attempts were put to good use. Finally, explosions ripped all the way across the giant Heartless, which cracked in half and blew up spectacularly.

The Highwind's peripheral systems beeped as the interference disappeared, and Sora made sure to speed out of the area along a bright tunnel before the Nobodies could switch targets. The World Gate appeared before the heroes, and they made it through to Olympus Coliseum!

Before the heroes teleported down to the world's surface, Chip chimed in over the communicator. "Great flying, guys! We're working hard, too! We finished the first pair of Teeny Ships, so the Teeny System will be ready for you on your next flight! Good luck out there!" The teleporter engaged.

 **VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

 _Twilight Town Mansion: Library..._

Riku led Lambda down the hidden stairs in the mansion's library, then turned toward the first point of interest to be searched. The door to DiZ's computer room still stood open, but there was another door on the left. It had been blocked by fallen pipes, so most people would assume there was nothing important that way, but there might be another reason why DiZ had never repaired the door.

Luckily, the crooked pipes weren't as impassable as they appeared. They obviously weren't connected to the walls, and they weren't wedged in place, either. Lambda tossed them against the staircase in a relatively neat pile, revealing a functional keypad. Before Riku could say anything, she keyed in a sequence of four numbers, and the door hissed open. "Well, this investigation is off to a good start!"

Riku's mouth took a second to catch up with his brain. "How did you know the passcode?"

Lambda smirked, her red eyes sparkling with mischief. "You know how DiZ left me in charge of maintaining the simulated Twilight Town while you two went inside to finish guiding Roxas to Sora? It turned out there wasn't much I could do to stop Nobodies from getting in, so I decided to do some poking around of my own."

Riku walked down the bluish metal hallway beyond the door, but his curious gaze was set firmly on Lambda. "What did you find?"

Lambda giggled. "Well, first I found that his security is a joke, compared to some common encryptions from the Azure Timeline. I'm built to fight gods, remember, which includes hacking their security. Which would mean the Master Unit is at least as much of a machine as I am... Anyway, along with the door codes, he had a neat folder called 'Secret Ansem Reports', so of _course_ I downloaded all thirteen files. I didn't learn as much as I'd like, though. They don't have the context I'd need to make sense of them. They say Ansem was the king of some world called Radiant Garden, and his apprentices convinced him to make some kind of Heartless research lab. Then he was betrayed by them and left in the Realm of Darkness, or at least that's what I gather from his description of the place. He somehow gained the Power of Darkness to escape, and started calling himself DiZ: 'Darkness in Zero'."

Riku held up a hand. "Hold up, my brain is a bit overloaded right now. DiZ is Ansem?"

Lambda frowned thoughtfully. "No, I don't think so. The stories don't match up. Also, his apprentices had names that sounded sort of familiar. Ienzo, Aeleus, and Even all ring a bell, but I can't quite figure out why...and there's one name I don't recognize at all. Have you ever heard of a guy named Xehanort? What mom would name their kid that mouthful?"

Riku jolted as he recognized the name. Still, he tried to lighten the mood with a joke. "I dunno, what mom would name their kid Boundary Interface Prime Field...whatever the rest was? I know the last word was Lambda."

Lambda pouted. "Joke's on you; Prime Field Devices don't have moms. It's not a funny joke, though."

Riku stopped chuckling with an apologetic gesture, then got down to business. "You're right, that was mean, but I have heard that name before. When we got split up that one time, I ended up at Hollow Bastion. I found a room in the castle basement that I'd never seen before. It was an office, with a portrait of Ansem on the wall. There was a woman named Tifa poking around, searching for someone, but I don't think she's as important as the secret room I found after she left. It was a huge laboratory - so huge that the whole castle could probably fit into that secret basement. I decided to investigate, and things got weird really quickly."

Riku took a deep breath and continued his recap. "The computer in the first room didn't like people. It said something over the speakers about an MCP and 'drastic action'. I left it alone, but the fingerprint scanner locking the next room let me through. Maybe it sensed Ansem inside me, somehow. I wasn't in his body back then, and I still had the blindfold, but Ansem was throwing a total hissy fit at the time in the corner of my heart where he's still locked up. Anyway, the kicker was that the keypad said, ' _WELCOME BACK, XEHANORT'_ , as it let me in. Come to think of it, that place might be the Heartless lab you read about, though it looked more like a factory."

That didn't sound good. Lambda thought over it for a second; she didn't like her preliminary conclusions. "A Heartless _factory?_ And this was in Hollow Bastion?"

Riku nodded. "It does seem like a lot of names have been changed since the Heartless sacked that world. Even some of the resistance members who fled to Traverse Town changed their names to show that they'd moved on from the tragedy. The factory wasn't all that was there, though. Apparently, Xehanort gets access to another section, far beneath the factory floor. _Really_ far beneath; I passed the time while I was climbing down by cursing out the guy who invented stairs. Luckily, Merlin helped me skip the stairs before going back up. Anyway, there was a weird chamber at the bottom with a bunch of Nobody symbols and a throne, and on that throne was an empty suit of armor holding a Keyblade."

Lambda's jaw dropped. "My gods, you hit the secret-room jackpot!"

"Yeah, I was floored, too. I tried picking up the Keyblade, of course, but even though the armor was empty, the Keyblade vanished. I got this...feeling, though. I think that Keyblade will reappear when I find the chosen wielder for it, so I'm like the delivery boy. How ironic, after I called Sora that while I was falling to Darkness." Riku's smirk faded a bit.

Lambda ticked off points on her fingers. "So, to recap, Xehanort and Ansem are the same person, or at least they were connected at some point, and DiZ and Ansem are...also the same person?" The Murakumo Unit finally came to a stable, if unsatisfying conclusion: Ansem's history was a mess! "Give me a second to see if I can sort this out. Maybe...DiZ was Ansem before Xehanort betrayed him. And if Xehanort is the 'Ansem' we've been fighting over and over again, then he's just pretending to be Ansem, probably to spite his old teacher. No one seems to remember the truth, though, and the whole world was renamed, and the Ansem we fought was a Heartless, meaning he may have a Nobody running around... Is it just me, or is this conspiracy _really_ complex?"

Riku gripped his head to stave off a complexity-induced headache. "You're telling me. Still, I doubt the real Ansem would be very happy about having his name smeared so much, which would explain why DiZ wants revenge. But right now, we're just throwing out our best guesses, right? Let's see if anything in here paints a clearer picture." Riku stopped at the end of the long hall, allowing Lambda to key in the code to open the door there.

 **VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV  
**

 _Twilight Town: The Colored Room..._

"Well, _something's_ painted in here, all right," Lambda noted as she adjusted her eyes to the sudden explosion of color. Every flat surface in the square room was painted a solid, bright color, such that no surface touched another surface of the same color. There were a few pieces of furniture, including two chairs and a table, and all of them were painted with riotous colors. All that color, though, only served to make Namine's white dress stand out more starkly among her surroundings. The blonde Nobody sat in a colorful chair, drawing in her sketchbook without reacting to the couple's entrance.

"So this is where you ran off to, Namine!" Riku looked around the room. "I like the...colors. Where did you get all this paint?"

Namine finally looked up and closed her sketchbook. "I wanted to have a room that wasn't completely white for once. I thought it would help my mood, and it worked...sort of. For starters, I used the wrong kind of paint on that red wall." The wall she pointed out did have several lumps of paint on it where the red liquid dripped before drying, but something about the way Namine said it seemed to imply that the problem ran deeper than improper paint mixtures.

Lambda sat in the second chair, across the table from Namine. "What have you been up to for the last few weeks? After you left through that Dark Corridor, we never saw any sign of you. Not that we were looking very hard; there were a lot of temporal anomalies and giant Heartless to deal with."

Namine sighed. "I've been...stalling. Finding this room, painting and decorating it, drawing, and generally hiding from all the problems that I should be the one to deal with." And _that_ was the problem. "I was created with a unique power: I have control over Sora's memories, and the memories of all the people he's formed connections with. By now, that list includes practically everyone in all the worlds he knows. But every time I've used my power, I've either created huge problems, or tried to fix the mess from one of those problems...the keyword being 'tried'. Even the 'fixing' I've done has hurt so many people...especially Roxas."

Lambda cut in; there was another problem she needed to know more about. "Roxas was hurt, true, but Xion was hurt more. She's probably still hurting."

Namine blinked in confusion; not a good sign at all. "All the people I affected are still hurting. But who is Xion?"

Lambda blanched. "I can't be the only person who still remembers! All the lost memories were your doing in the first place; how could you also forget her? Heck, would Roxas himself remember, if he ever got his own body back? Or is it hopeless to try and help her?"

Namine thought harder, and suddenly clutched her head from a headache. "I...I do know that name, but I don't remember the face...no, _her_ face. Other than the name and that Roxas called her a 'her', though, I can't... Her case must be even more unique than mine. If I can help her, I'd like to...but like I said, I'd just end up hurting someone else by trying."

Riku shook his head. "I still can't remember who Lambda keeps bringing up, but clearly it's important to Lambda. Right now, though, you need to chin up, Namine. There _has_ to be a way to use your power to fix things without breaking others, but with that attitude, you might as well have already faded away."

Namine smiled ruefully. "Believe me, if it were just me, I would have eliminated myself a long time ago. But I can't just leave her behind."

Lambda asked, "Her? Are we still talking about Xion?"

"No, she's talking about Kairi," Riku guessed. "That's who you are, right? You're Kairi's Nobody. That's how you could replace Sora's memories of her so thoroughly."

Namine flinched, but managed to compose herself. "Yes...and no. When Kairi's heart was stolen, she didn't turn into a Heartless. She doesn't have any Darkness to form one. No Heartless, no Nobody. But later, Sora's sacrifice released both her heart and his, and he became a Heartless. At that moment, both Roxas and I were created. That's why I have that power over Sora's memories, and it's also part of where Roxas' Keyblades came from." 

Namine continued without seeming to pause for breath. Her expression was perfectly neutral, and she kept unflinching eye contact with Riku. "Even though I can remember both of their lives and the emotions they felt in perfect clarity, none of it is mine. Like this room, everything that made their lives bright, happy, and colorful surrounded me, but I wasn't part of it. That was how Marluxia finally made me agree to rewrite Sora's memories. After weeks of isolation in the first of several White Rooms I've been locked inside, I wanted to have what Sora had. Friends, joy, adventure...love. What I did, though, and what I got from it... It wasn't worth it. It wasn't _real._ I deceived Sora as thoroughly as I could, but even when he fully believed the lies, and even believed he loved me, I couldn't believe. Nobodies like me can't be real people. We can't have hearts. We can't be born so unrelentingly _good,_ like Sora was. He forgave me for everything, but I can't _feel_ like I'mworth forgiving." Namine still showed no expression.

Suddenly, Lambda was on her feet, and she slapped Namine hard enough to knock her head to the side. "Don't say that, you...! If you can't be _born_ good, then it's your job to _learn!_ Don't just claim it's hopeless and give up. _That_ is where evil comes from. Not to mention lies. That's the only path I know of that truly has nothing worth finding along it."

Lambda geared up for a rant. "DiZ always scoffs about how Nobodies only pretend to have feelings, but right now, you're only pretending you _don't_. You put up a good facade, but you put too much emphasis on very specific words, all of which paint a very unhappy picture. Here's what I think. I believe you've had a brand-new heart growing inside you all this time. That's probably true for all Nobodies, and I certainly saw it in Roxas, so the same probably applies to you, since both of you were formed from Sora. Why everyone thinks Nobodies have no hearts...I think it's another of Xehanort's lies, along with his 'Ansem' alias and everything he's ever said about Darkness. Everyone believes it, though, and the Organization are mostly jerks, so I don't think explaining it to them is the way to go." But now that Lambda realized the ruse, could she "eliminate" any of them, knowing that neither side of the battle would have meaning? No, that was a question she should save for later.

Lambda ticked off Namine's options on her fingers. "Anyway, if you start from nothing and practice until you grow a heart, there are a few ways you could turn out. I think Roxas took the most common path, or it would be if the truth were out. The emptiness he _felt_ \- you know what emptiness _feels_ like; all Nobodies clearly do - turned into grief, which boiled over into rage, which burned him out. The Organization mostly took the worst path and became sociopaths, using their understanding of emotions and the weak self-influence of their own feelings to more easily manipulate others. But there's another path you could still take, Namine - the one I took. You could learn to be a good person."

Namine finally broke down and sobbed. "We're not the same. You're a machine made with a soul, but I'm a flat picture drawn with no heart. Don't say I'm like you. I don't want it to be true! I don't want this _hope_ burning in my stupid, hollow chest. It only makes everything hurt more! Yes, I _know_ that means I have a heart to be hurt, but that's not a good thing to me _._ It's just hurt. And if it's true that I could have been a good person, then that means I've been a bad person at every turn, and it's _all my fault!_ I've tried and tried to make things right, but all I did was make things _wrong!_ I hurt Sora, I hurt Roxas, I must have hurt Xion...I even broke Jiminy's Journal, for crying out loud! All those people are still hurting, and they'll _keep_ hurting until someone else fixes my mess! Even if I knew Sora could fix it...I'm not sure even he could handle some of the things I found buried in his heart, which is why I used the Journal...but I'll still be the bad person who hurt everyone. If I ever returned to Kairi, having me inside her would probably hurt her, too. J-just leave me alone. You'd all be better off without my so-called power." Namine's self-loathing tirade sputtered, then finally dissolved into a steady stream of tears.

Lambda's expression softened, and she wiped a tear from Namine's cheek with a finger. "Namine, look at this. See this tear? This is proof of _your_ sorrow, _your_ regret, _your_ pain. You've been so focused on everyone else's hurt that you ignored your own, and took on all that hurt by yourself. No one should have to deal with that alone, which is why I want to help you. I was alone at first...but then I met Riku, and things got better. Together, I think we can fix all those broken hearts without adding to the pile. And of course, Sora will always want to help, too. I doubt even a World-sized chasm separating you two would keep him from trying to help you and everyone else. The difference is, Sora doesn't try to help everyone on his own. Neither should you."

Namine sniffled, but Lambda's words finally seemed to be sinking in. "You're right, Lambda. I can't try to do this alone; that's why I've been failing. I've seen what happened when Sora tried it. He was deep under my manipulation, and he left Donald and Goofy behind when they questioned him. They thought he was acting strange - and he was - but he thought he needed to 'save' me as soon as possible. That was how he ended up in Larxene's clutches. Larxene is the best example I've seen of a Nobody trying to learn to be evil, not good...or she was, before Sora and his friends terminated her. She attacked Sora when he was still reeling from fighting the Riku Replica - another victim of my power, and probably the only one who can't be saved - and he would have been dead in seconds if his friends hadn't caught up to him. Sora did extremely well from that point onward. The change in the outcomes of his fights, in his attitude... It was all so _obvious_ , which just rubbed the lesson in. Why didn't I apply that to myself?"

Riku chuckled. "I can forgive you for thinking that lessons which apply to Sora don't apply to anyone else. He never followed rules very well. From dropping coconuts on me in sparring matches on the Islands to coming back from being a Heartless in Hollow Bastion, he always did his own thing. He tends to cheat to solve his friends' problems, too."

That made Namine remember something. "Sora didn't come back from being a Heartless when I was created, though. Really, he was still just a bodiless heart walking around like a Heartless. Kairi shared some Light with him to help him stay himself. That could only go so far, though, which was why we needed to get Roxas back to him. Sora was clearly deteriorating in Castle Oblivion; he would never have left Donald and Goofy behind otherwise. Thanks to Roxas, he's complete again now. But all those people still in his heart...they're still broken, and I need help to fix them." 

Riku's eyes widened. Sora had "cheated" even more than he thought! "Will Kairi be in trouble without you, Namine? Wait, 'all those'? Is this about Xion?"

"Hey, you finally remembered her name! _YES!_ " Lambda wanted to cheer, hug Riku, and jump up and down. She considered buying some confetti. Finally, she was making progress! Xion's case wasn't hopeless after all!

Namine nodded. "Yes, it is about her, along with the others. It's about Xion, Roxas, Kairi, Sora himself, and a few more hearts sleeping within Sora's. Like I said, I found some...troubling things deep in Sora's heart. He doesn't remember it consciously anymore, but Kairi's not the first heart he's saved. There was another boy, and Sora saved him _twice_ when Sora was really young, somehow. That boy is the source of Roxas' second Keyblade; he knows some of the Keyblade's lost secrets, too. I don't know those secrets, so please don't ask. I couldn't read that deeper layer of memories, only find his heart there. But if Sora wants to go back and save this other person, he'll have to deal with all the hurt that boy's heart built up from more than a decade spent shattered and asleep within Sora's. It's not time for him to awaken yet, and Sora isn't ready to handle the ordeal. I've made sure we'll know when the time comes, though. That's what the Journal is for. Don't worry, you won't be needed for that part. Actually, Sora won't need to be there, either."

Riku quirked an eyebrow. "Still being vague, Namine? Don't worry about it. I'm sure you'll let us know when it's important, and before it's too late. But what about Kairi?"

Namine paused, then squared her shoulders. "Don't worry, the King and Jiminy will definitely let you know when they figure out why the Journal's empty. Anyway, I've decided. I'll go back to Kairi soon. It's where I belong, after all. The best time would be when Sora's current quest draws to a close. Until then, someone may need me as myself. Maybe it will be Kairi, maybe it'll be Sora. I can make Dark Corridors without relying on my memory power, at least. That's how I found this room. I'll watch Sora's progress from this place for now."

Lambda looked around. "If that's what your heart's decided, then the only thing left is to do it. Hey, what _is_ this room, anyway? I had to move some pipes and hack DiZ's files for the codes to get in here. What's he hiding here?"

Namine pointed to a door on the back wall, which she'd painted with many splotches of color to help it stand out from the wall's solid green. "Whatever it is, it must be behind that door. I couldn't open it without the codes; I can only enter or leave this room by creating a Dark Corridor, and I'm not precise enough with them to try and check that room. If you know the codes, go right ahead and check it yourselves; I don't owe DiZ privacy, do I?"

Riku smirked. "No, you don't owe that racist jerk anything. We were exploring to figure out what he's still not telling us; running into you was a lucky accident."

Namine shook her head seriously. "Coincidences don't exist, I'm sure of it. There's a plan playing out, and everything that's happened is a part of it. With Lambda around, the plan veered off course, but the Organization will be working to pull events back on track. Marluxia used to grumble about a 'Xigbar' potentially spying on people from anywhere, and that what Xigbar knows, Xemnas knows. So be careful."

Lambda facepalmed. "Oh, that's right! The Black Coats were supposed to block them from spying on us!" Lambda was still in her bodysuit and cape, so she summoned her Black Coat to cover her further, and pulled on the hood.

Riku also hooded himself. "Sorry, Namine. If the Organization knows you're here because of us...stay safe, okay?"

"Don't worry; I have a few more Colored Rooms to use on various worlds. By the way, Riku, using Ansem's voice should throw Xigbar further off track, since his hearing won't be reliable either that way."

Riku gave her a thumbs up, along with an affirmative in Ansem's deep voice. "Got it. Good luck, Namine."

Lambda entered the code for the door, and Riku followed her into another short hallway. Behind them, Namine left through a Dark Corridor, and the door to her first Colored Room hissed shut.

 **VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

 _The Underworld: Entrance..._

Sora, Donald, and Goofy appeared on the world's surface...or under it. Sora looked around - the stalagmites, the puddle of unidentifiable green stuff, and the river of purple gunk with what looked like faces floating in it...none of that was here the last time they visited Olympus Colosseum. "Do you think the teleporter was off target?"

"I see it!" Donald pointed to a staircase that rose _way_ up, ending in a shining hole through which the actual Colosseum could be seen.

"Huh. I guess we were a little off. I wonder if Hercules is here?" Sora led the way to the stairs.

"EEEK!" A shrill cry reached the travelers from the opposite direction.

"Someone's in trouble!" Goofy, Captain of the Royally Obvious, perked an ear in the direction of the disturbance.

"Well, visiting the Colosseum can wait. We can tack this onto our 'real hero' accomplishments before we talk to Phil!" Sora summoned the Keyblade and charged off toward the river of souls, followed by his companions. None of them noticed the smoky clouds that briefly surrounded them.

The source of the trouble was a group of Rabid Dogs, small, roughly canine Heartless with a sonic barking attack. There were about five of them gathered around a woman in a purple toga-dress, who had collapsed on the ground, but seemed okay otherwise. The party crashed into the Heartless mob and took care of them in short order, then turned to the woman as she pushed herself up.

Sora extended a hand to help her up, but she waved him off. "Are you okay, um..."

"Megara. My friends call me Meg. Don't worry, I'm fine. I'm a big girl, I can handle myself."

Sora immediately jumped to using the shortened form of address. "So, Meg, what are you doing down here? Come to think of it, where _is_ 'here?'"

"Huh, I guess we're friends now. Anyway, this is the Underworld. You know, the Land of the Dead. I was trying to talk to Hades about something, but those monsters caught me before I got very far." Meg brushed off her dress and turned away, debating whether to try again.

Sora nodded; trying to avoid encounters with Heartless was pretty much futile. "Oh... Wait, 'Hades' as in the Hades Cup? We were here to visit Hercules, and maybe join the Games again. We have to hold onto the title, after all."

Meg suddenly looked interested. "You three know Wonderboy? Who are you?"

"Sora!"

"Donald!"

"Goofy! Nice to meetcha, Meg!"

Meg glanced left and right, as though worried that someone would appear. "Nice to meet you, too, boys, but you should go. It's dangerous here. Ghosts, falling rocks, and now those monsters..."

Sora grinned as he summoned the Keyblade, and his allies followed suit. "Beating Heartless is what we do, Meg! If you need something from down there, why not send us?"

Meg studied the heroes. "You'd really brave the Underworld because a girl you just met needs help?"

Donald thumped his chest. "Yeah! 'Cuz we're heroes!"

Goofy leaned down and whispered, "Junior Heroes, Donald," to which Donald grumbled wordlessly.

Meg laughed. "That sounds like typical Phil. Okay, if you _really_ want to go, try and convince Hades to give Wonderboy a break. He's been running himself ragged with match after match in the Colosseum."

"Sure thing! We'll be right back!" Sora led the Junior Heroes through a massive, blue-marked gate into the Cave of the Dead.

Meg watched them go with a bemused expression before starting the climb out of the Underworld. "So _that's_ the Sora kid Wonderboy's been raving about. Good luck, tiger. You'll need it."

 **VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

 _Underworld: Cave of the Dead..._

The trip into the Underworld wasn't actually very different from other worlds. There were still groups of Heartless that would pop up and try to impede the party's progress, there were still chests full of loot that Donald made sure to nab, and there was really only one tunnel to follow; both forks in the path led to the same place. The biggest difference Sora could see was that the ceiling sometimes tried to drop big rocks on his head. These boulders only ever fell on Sora, and after the seventh time, he couldn't really write it off as a coincidence. Maybe the Underworld itself was out to get him. It would probably explain the constant uneasiness in his gut ever since he'd arrived on the world.

Luckily, there was always a sprinkling of dust before a boulder fell, so Sora was able to dodge the rocks. At one point, the Keyblade wielder even hitched a ride by hanging underneath a Tornado Step as it spun around, letting the Heartless get hit by two of these malevolent cave-in attempts in his place. If Hades thought a few falling rocks would scare Sora off, the god had another thing coming.

 **VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

 _Underworld: Inner Chamber..._

There was a short break from the action at the bottom of the tunnel, which opened up into a wide chamber with no real features besides a shallow stream of green stuff. However, this area had a lot of ambient Light power. Sora loved rooms like this; they healed the party's wounds, never had Heartless in them, and to top it off, he could get great Magitek reception to teleport back to the Gummi Ship or contact the Moogle Shop over in Hollow Bastion to buy and synthesize items. Sora made sure to buy a few Potions before continuing to the next room.

Before they could get there, however, a man in a Black Coat came charging through the opening. Sora and company prepared for a fight, but the man, obviously a member of Organization XIII, just kept running. He even advised them to, "Run! Run away!" Judging by his voice, he wasn't much older than Sora, and he acted more like a frightened rabbit than a supervillain. Weird.

"Okay..." Sora stared at the Dark Corridor that the Organization member fled through, which dissolved in short order and left the party alone. This...did not match what they'd come to expect from the ominous group of Nobodies. Still, the weirdo in the hood didn't have any bearing on what the Junior Heroes came down here to do, so they continued onward.

 **VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

 _Underworld: Valley of the Dead..._

The next room was more like a catwalk over a glowing, green vortex. Donald and Goofy seemed to lose some resolve while staring down at the caustic abyss below the bridge, but Sora stepped forward confidently and called, "Hades, come out!"

Nobody showed up, because...

 **VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

 _Underworld: Hades' Chamber..._

...Because Hades was busy plotting his next villainous scheme. It didn't make sense; surely Wonderbreath had a limit somewhere. He was definitely tiring out, but no matter how many giant monsters he had to fight in one day, he kept winning. Just today, Herc took out the Rock Titan - the gigantic stone golem was immortal, but could be chipped down to size, and it took time to rebuild itself. However, Herc apparently found it faster to defeat the Rock Titan by ring-out. How could Irkules still have the strength to hurl a walking mountain into the stratosphere after two weeks of such feats with no sleep? He must be perfect...perfectly infuriating!

The godling's bottomless resilience was just as infuriating as Maleficent's lap-dog-cat-whatever, Pete, who was in the room, guffawing over the outcome of the match. "Wow, Hercules takes out everything you send at 'im! What with all these dead monsters, pretty soon the Underworld's gonna be standing room only!" Pete gestured as though waiting for laughter. Receiving none, he tried again. "Hey, why don't you just send in someone already dead, and save him the trouble?"

This got a reaction from Hades. Pete mistook the god's intense-plotting look for a warning that Hades' stack was about to blow, and backed down. Hades was actually in a good mood now; he just prided himself on always looking scary. "Dead...dead is good! And I know just the warrior." With a snap of his clawed, bony fingers, Hades removed the cosmic chess table from his chamber, revealing a hole in the ground to a smaller, but more intense vortex than the one just outside (across which Sora continued to coax his team at this very moment). The Lord of the Dead formed fireballs in both hands and dumped them into the pit.

"So, what's down...there?" Pete backed away slowly as smoke and flames began to rise from the pit.

"Oh, just the Underworld's deepest dungeon. This time I'm bringing out the _mother_ of all bad guys!" Hades watched with glee as smoke and flying embers rose around the silhouette of a human form.

"Is..that so? Well, maybe I should go." Pete vanished in a puff of smoke (Pete-brand teleportation smokescreens are always 100% fire and brimstone free; fun for the whole family!).

The smoke cleared, and the pit closed off with a seamless layer of rock. The person revealed, however, was certainly no "mother of all bad guys." He wore a red coat, carried a large sword, and wore small, dark sunglasses, but gave off more of an anti-hero vibe than malice.

Hades addressed the battle-scarred man in a clipped tone. "Let's cut to the chase. Here's the deal I'm going to offer you. I let you out of the slammer - no strings, you'll be free as a bird. A _living_ bird, too. And all for one little favor: fight Hercules, in the Colosseum, to the death!"

The man's response was delivered with a sneer. "This is _my_ story. And you're not part of it."

Hades didn't take such casual rejection calmly. "Did you forget who you're _talking_ to!? I am the _Lord of the Dead!_ " Hades' hair flared up, his claws extended, and he loomed over the man.

The man was decidedly unimpressed. "Heh. No wonder no one wants to die."

"That's it! You are _FIRED!_ " With literal fire, of course. Hades' skin and hair turned red, and he lunged forward with a burning punch, but he had to catch the ex-prisoner's giant sword instead of landing a blow. Impressively, the man held off the god's divine strength with just his right hand, as his left was bound up in his coat like a sling; a casualty of some great battle long ago. This was the scene Sora and company barged in on. "You again!?" Still, Hades was able to overpower his opponent, and the man had to back off a few paces. This gave Hades an opening to rain some massive fireballs on the mortal, which brought him to his knees.

His self-appointed mission momentarily forgotten, Sora interposed himself between Hades and the stranger. "Get up!"

Hades was really fired up now. Forget Hercules; here was another upstart punk who needed some divine retribution for the humiliation Hades suffered at the Games a few months ago. "Oh _yeah!_ This is gonna be good!"

Sora was still the superior fighter; for all his power and fire, Hades spent a lot more time manipulating his chess pieces from his throne than actually fighting. However, none of Sora's attacks did any damage. Whether it was Blizzard spells or swinging the Keyblade, it all just passed through Hades as though the god was made of smoke.

"Hah ha ha! Is that really all you've got, kiddo?" Hades made a show of plucking some brimstone from his ear while Sora tried another futile combo, then punched the Keyblade wielder across the room.

"That's not working. One more trick to try... Goofy, give me strength!" Sora attempted to engage Valor Form...nothing happened, not that it would have helped. "Huh? I...feel funny." The cloud of smoke from his first steps into the Underworld reappeared, canceling Sora's attempt to draw power from his friends and effectively locking down his Drive power.

Hades gladly explained. "Oh, right! See, that's the curse of the Underworld. 'In the Underworld, heroes...are zeroes.' Comes with the territory." Hades was still red with rage, but now he seemed relaxed as he lazily swung a few more punches.

The stranger picked himself off the floor and shook Sora's shoulder. "We can't fight him here."

"Oh, that's right! Hades, we need to talk!" Sora shouted at the god.

"What was that?" Hades made a show of sticking his bony fingers in his ears, then pulled out huge fireballs from each ear. "I couldn't hear you over the sound of you punks _burning to death!_ "

"We have to go! Now!" The old warrior dragged Sora out of the chamber, followed by Donald and Goofy. They got clear just as Hades' attack blew up most of the room.

 **VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

 _Escape from the Underworld!_

Sora, Donald, and Goofy worked together to close the doors to Hades' chamber, then leaned against the sealed entrance to block him. Donald huffed, "Is he gone?"

"Don't count on it," the mystery man muttered ominously.

Sure enough, when Sora looked to his side, Hades was leaning against the door next to him. "Leaving so soon?" With a snap of his fingers, Hades summoned a group of Heartless to power a Dark Barrier that blocked the bridge. Sora and company immediately started fighting the Heartless off, joined by the stranger. The man's blade was just as effective as the Keyblade in slaying the monsters, despite having no power behind it but his own muscles and only one functional arm. In no time, the mixed group of Search Bats and Rabid Dogs were dispatched, and the barrier fell.

The group raced along the path until they were stopped by another barrier and another set of Heartless, this time a mix of Shadows, Soldiers and _Lance Soldiers_ , who were really two Heartless that appeared together but did not get along. The Soldier would continually try to catch the Lance, who kept bouncing out of reach, but on the rare occasions when it caught the weapon and wielder worked together, the Lance Soldier could deal wide-ranging, powerful attacks. And the whole time, Hades harried the party with thrown fireballs, making sure they knew he was invincible (even to his own reflected attacks) and that the heroes' only choice was to scramble away.

The final barrier was right before the safe zone in the Inner Chamber, guarded by all the Heartless seen previously and a Large Body. The stranger turned to Sora and said, "We'll need to work together for this."

"Right with you, whoever you are!" In response to an unspoken cue, Sora and the newcomer launched into a series of spin attacks and jumping slashes, powered by a similar energy to Valor Form's Brave Shot. The Heartless were ripped apart in short order. The warrior nodded from Sora to Hades, and Sora got the hint. "Let's go!"

"Your pain shall be twofold!" The mystery man threw his sword toward Sora, who copied the move and met it with his Keyblade. The two weapons clashed, then spun together in midair faster and faster, until they produced a massive cyclone of wind, dust, and debris. Hades was left undamaged, but the wind still blew him far enough away for the party to escape his wrath.

 **VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

 _Underworld: Inner Chamber..._

Sora and company tumbled into the safe zone and collapsed in exhaustion. They needed a minute or two for the safe zone to heal their wounds, so Sora tried to learn more about the stranger who'd dragged them here. "You're really strong! Are you some kind of hero?"

The man scoffed. "No, I'm no hero. I'm just a..." He trailed off.

"Then what are you?" Sora wondered.

"Auron."

"What's that?"

"My name."

"Oh. Well, Auron, I'm Sora, and these are Donald and Goofy. We were going to try to talk some sense into Hades, but...I guess that's not going to work." Sora recovered enough to stand again. Donald and Goofy climbed on his shoulders to get a better look at Auron, but their combined weight sent the trio tumbling to the ground.

Auron appraised the pile of strangers; they obviously had a long way to go, but Auron knew a great destiny when he saw it. "We may have been fated to meet. Perhaps you need a guardian."

Donald and Goofy rolled off Sora, who stood up and brushed himself off. "Thanks, but no thanks. We can take care of ourselves."

Donald chimed in. "Yeah, 'cuz we're heroes!" Chest thump!

Goofy reminded him, "Junior Heroes, Donald!" Grr.

Auron turned to the door. "Either way, we can't fight Hades in his own realm. We've got to escape. Make sure you're rested up and ready to fight."

"Got it." Sora's group passed around a few Potions, but Auron pushed away the one they offered to him, instead using his own healing spell. It only took a few seconds to recharge his mana in the safe zone, and he didn't like _getting_ help from others, only _giving_ it.

The party was just about to move on when something red landed on Goofy's head. "Gah, dammit, Celica! If you're going to get lost, at least get lost where I can see you! You're going to get me blown up if you just run off!" The newcomer pushed himself up, grumbling under his breath, and moved on without so much as glancing at the people he'd fallen on. The parts of his appearance that stood out included a red jacket, a bunch of belts, and a giant sword. Apparently, the red-jacket-with-sword look was in style this year. The big differences between this man and Auron were that he had white hair instead of Auron's gray-black, and looked significantly younger, even from behind. He also had a limp arm, but this man was restricted to his left hand. "Celica! Where are you!?"

"Over here, Ragna!" The gruff voice of the man, Ragna, was answered by a sweet, feminine call from further up the tunnel.

"Well, at least you didn't go too far. Let's get out of here; we're probably already late. Come to think of it, where's Noel?"

The girl Ragna was talking to, Celica, met him at the connection between the Inner Chamber and the tunnels. She had brown hair in a ponytail and brown eyes, and wore a sort of student's uniform with a cape. "I don't know. She stopped running for some reason, so I just went ahead. She'll probably catch up." 

Ragna facepalmed with his working arm. "No, she probably knew you were going to get lost again. That's what I get for letting you hold the map."

"I am _not_ lost!" Celica stamped her foot.

Ragna raised an eyebrow. "Oh? Then where are we?" Sora and company were still standing on the sidelines, caught between a desire to introduce themselves, a desire to stay out of unnecessary confusion, and a desire to continue watching the humorous exchange.

"I have the map right here. Let's see... We're... Huh, the map doesn't say anything about a cave..." Celica's big, expressive eyes flitted left and right across the map, and Sora found it more difficult not to chuckle when he realized she was reading it upside down.

Ragna declared, "Lost. We're _so_ lost, we couldn't even find ourselves on this map even if you were actually holding it right-side up."

"Oh, _that's_ what I was doing wrong!" Celica cheerfully flipped the map and began scanning it again.

"Well, that's a... _OH MY GOD WHAT IS THAT!?_ " Ragna's gruff demeanor suddenly shifted to screaming terror. He pointed a trembling finger over Celica's shoulder, and she slowly turned around to see...

...A wispy, ethereal, but entirely harmless ball of light floating in midair, measuring about a foot across its featureless diameter. "Ooh, I think it's a ghost! I didn't know ghosts looked like that! It's kind of cute!"

"G-g-g-g-g-g-g-g..." Ragna was reduced to a mess of nerves who could only repeat one letter.

Celica asked in concern, "What's wrong, Ragna? You look like you've seen a ghost! Well, I guess we did, but it's not _that_ scary."

" _ **GHOOOOST!**_ " Ragna turned and bolted away from the harmless spirit, and almost bowled Sora's party over again. "Get outta my way, whoever you are! I'm not sticking around here to get eaten by ghosts!"

Sora asked earnestly, "If you're scared of ghosts, why in the worlds would you go anywhere near the Underworld?"

Ragna jumped again. "The Underworld?! H-hey, I'm n-not s-s-scared of g-g-g-ghosts, punk..." Ragna tried to rebuild his angry, badass image, but it was a little late for that.

Donald chuckled. "Tell that to that ghost there!" He pointed at a new wisp that formed right over Ragna's shoulder.

Ragna's high-pitched squeal was priceless; Yuuki Terumi would have paid millions of Platinum Dollars to buy a recording. Ragna reflexively grabbed his sword and swung it at the ball of light, which dispersed in a burst of mana.

Donald explained, "They don't hurt anyone, but you can hit them for extra mana! They'll just reform later, anyway. Dead people don't feel pain here." Donald demonstrated by bonking his Mage's Staff against another spirit. "I wonder if I'm a bad person for thinking it's fun to whack these things?"

Celica chimed in, "I'm sure they're just happy to help! Speaking of dead people, though, who are you?" she turned to address Auron.

"No one important."

"His name's Auron; he's really strong!" These were the simultaneous reactions of Auron and Goofy, respectively.

Auron turned to Ragna. "Ragna, was it? You have even less business here than I do; why don't you just go back through that rift?" He gestured to the Time Break that Ragna had fallen through.

"I t-think I'll do t-that. C'mon, Celica, w-we're supposed to be in Ibukido right now! Let's g-get out of here and catch up with Noel." Ragna scooped Celica up with his working arm and jumped through the Time Break with her in a definite hurry.

Sora recognized the rift. "Oh yeah, that Kagura guy said to help close these." He summoned the Keyblade and fired a Seal beam at it, but aside from a few sparks, there was no effect. "Right...we need help from that side, too."

Goofy pointed out, "Well, why can't we just pass through it ourselves?"

Sora nodded. "Good point. I'm sure someone will notice us and help out. Hey, Auron, do you want to check it out, too?"

Auron shook his head. "No, my place is in this world, so I'll be here until you return. Good luck, Sora."

"Thanks! Alright, guys, let's check out this 'Azure Timeline' we keep hearing about!" The three friends jumped through the Time Break.

 **VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

 _Azure Timeline: just outside Ibukido..._

The Azure Timeline end of the Time Break had formed in a featureless wasteland, which was all that was left of the Earth outside the Hierarchical Cities after the Black Beast and its postmortem seithr secretions were through with it. Celica had somehow managed to get lost in a flat wasteland, even with the ruined mountain of Ibukido in plain view with its humongous black pillar that rose to the clouds.

Sora and company were more concerned with the seithr density. People born in this generation breathed seithr all the time, but Sora's group had never experienced it, so the wavering clouds of raw possibility particles sent the group into a harsh coughing fit. "Ugh, what is with the air around here?"

 _"*Krrzt* Hey, kid! Are you Sora?"_ A voice spoke into Sora's head, but there was a lot of static noise.

"*Cough, cough* That's me. I dunno how you're *cough* talking in my head, but I need some help closing this Time Break. Didn't Kagura call you Kokonoe?"

 _"That's my name, don't wear it out. I'll be there before you can say 'Help Me! Professor Kokonoe!' You show up loud and clear on my sensors, so I need to sort you out before any unpleasant folks catch on. I've got a few new gadgets to test out, anyway."_ The air in front of Sora sparked and distorted, and Kokonoe teleported in. Sora was so surprised at the pink-haired catgirl's appearance that he stopped coughing for a moment. "Yeah, yeah, I get that a lot. Catch." The genius abruptly tossed a rectangular device to Sora, who managed to catch it after a couple of fumbles. "Radio. It's a direct line to me, so you don't need to come get me in person. If you find a Time Break, press the red button. Now get your asses back through that one before you come down with any long-term effects of seithr poisoning." Despite Kokonoe's rough language and the cloud of possibility-poison in his lungs, Sora managed a grateful smile before tumbling back through the rift.

 **VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

 _And now back to our regularly-scheduled timeline..._

Sora gulped a deep breath of seithr-free air. Sure, it was the stale air of the Underworld, but at least it wasn't noticeably poisonous. He then pushed the red button on the radio he'd been given, just to test it. "Hello?"

Kokonoe's voice came out of the device. "Yeah, I hear you. Get ready to close the Time Break." The rift began to glow almost immediately, so Sora hurriedly shot another Seal beam at it. This time, the Time Break shrank down to nothing. As soon as it disappeared, Sora's radio gave off a horrible screeching sound.

"Agh!" Sora turned the device over until he found the power switch, which cut off the noise when he flipped it. "I guess we can't get reception after the Time Break closes. Remind me to get this thing off before then next time guys." Sora placed the radio in his right Pocket of Holding for safekeeping.

Goofy gave him a thumbs up. "Gotcha! Now let's get going!"

"Any more distractions, Sora?" Auron asked while leaning against the chamber wall. Sora shook his head, so Auron turned and started walking without a word, leaving the rest of the group to catch up.

 **VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

 _Meanwhile, in Hades' Chamber..._

Pete was still spouting on about how awesome his (Maleficent's) plan was. "I got Heartless all over the Underworld now, so you can leave those pipsqueaks to me! You just focus on turnin' Hercules into a Heartless - then he'll be all mine!"

Hades flared up; Pete shut up. "This is MY Underworld, you idiot! I'll handle this _myself!_ " Hades turned to the window and called to his favorite pet. "Cerberus, go!"

"So, 'handle it yourself', huh?" Pete chuckled. "Looks to me like you're still sendin' minions at 'em! Just different ones."

Hades grit his fangs. "Yes, laugh all you want. I've already locked the gates; nobody comes in, nobody goes out. It'll hold up new dead souls for a few minutes, but those pint-sized pests can't possibly get out of the Underworld before the unkillable Cerberus finds them."

Pete scratched under his chin, pondering the merits of this plan. It sounded good in concept, but there was something telling him it wouldn't work. "Eh, if it works, it works. Just keep on Hercules."

Honestly, who did this punk think he was, ordering a god around? "No, _you_ keep your _mouth shut_ and get out! Tell your 'mistress' that I am opting out of her club, and if she doesn't like it, she's free to come down here to discuss it with my fire blasts. Not even she can beat me down here." Hades flicked his wrist, flinging the doors to his chambers open.

"Okay, okay! Yeesh." Pete scuttled out the door, but then poked his head back in. "Hey, uh, does this mean you'll open the gate for me?"

" _GO!_ " Hades punctuated his shout with a beam of fire that narrowly missed Pete.

"Right! Ta-ta!" Pete was gone so fast that his words seemed to be spoken by the dusty outline he left behind.

 **VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

 _Underworld: Cave of the Dead..._

Sora and company made good time back up the tunnels. With Auron's help, the Heartless barely posed a threat. They emerged into the large chamber between the tunnels and the Underworld Entrance. The last obstacle was the giant, blue gateway they'd come through earlier.

Oddly, the gate didn't seem as willing to let them through in the other direction. Goofy stepped back from the group's fruitless yanking, and found the problem. "It's locked!" There was indeed a massive, stone lock on the gate, with thick chains extending in an X shape to hold it shut. Sora wasn't worried; he summoned the Keyblade.

Auron asked, "Will that open it?" 

"Yeah, I think so. It always-" Sora was cut off by a thunderous growl from behind them. The party slowly turned around to see the three-headed dog, Cerberus, stomping toward them. Everyone jumped out of the way as the guard dog pounced.

Auron engaged the beast at close range, keeping its three heads occupied by himself. "Open it!"

Sora nodded and immediately Released the gate lock. Donald and Goofy shoved the gate open and charged through, and Sora made to follow, but he noticed Auron wasn't doing the same.

"Sora, wait!" Donald called as Sora turned back to help Auron fight off Cerberus. A Dark Barrier formed over the gate, splitting the party in half.

 **VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

 _Help Auron defeat Cerberus!_

Sora knew he could handle Cerberus, even without his Drive ability. After all, he'd beaten it alongside Donald and Goofy when it crashed the Games last time, and again by himself in the Hades Cup. This time, the dog seemed more fond of jumping around and creating shockwaves than spewing Darkness into the ground, though its homing fireballs were still present. Sora waited until it stopped moving to shoot fireballs, then signaled Auron for an Overdrive combo attack.

Cerberus seemed tougher than last time in terms of defense, at least - it managed to take the entire combo without faltering, and almost snagged Sora between its three jaws. Sora jumped up to escape, caught another bite with his Keyblade, yanked himself and his weapon free, and slammed down hard on the monster's forehead. It was left stunned, and the Dark Barrier went down. Sora got an idea.

The Keyblade wielder ran for the gate and reached Donald and Goofy, then rapidly explained his plan. When Cerberus got its heads together and looked around for its prey, it saw Sora, Donald, and Goofy taunting it. They were sticking their tongues out, making stupid faces, and (in Auron's case) _getting away_. Enraged, the guard dog charged at the group at full speed, which was the prompt for Donald and Goofy to slam the gate shut at the last minute. The group heard nothing more from Cerberus, besides a very satisfying _thump_ from its heads impacting the impervious gate at a full sprint.

 **VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

 _Underworld: Entrance..._

Sora and company exchanged high-fives. "Great work, guys! Auron, are you okay from fighting it by yourself? ...Auron?" The veteran warrior had simply vanished. He'd definitely followed them through the gate...then again, as far as Sora could tell, Auron was already dead when they met him. Maybe he couldn't leave the Underworld? "Well, we've got to tell Meg it didn't work. Maybe Hercules knows how to beat the Underworld's curse." The party climbed the many, many stairs out of the Underworld, and were pleasantly surprised when each step was easier than the last, due to the Underworld's strength-sapping curse fading as they got farther away.

 **VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

 _Back in Hades' Chamber..._

Hades saw the whole thing, including how Sora had subverted the locked-gate part of his plan. He'd called Pete back to explain it. "So let me get this straight. That brat's Keyblade opens any lock?"

"Yup, and the Heartless don't do so well fighting it, either."

Hades began to form another plan. "Have I ever told you about the killer Colosseum we have right here in the Underworld? It makes the one upstairs look like an Olympic kiddie pool!"

Pete liked the sound of that. "Then that's where we end Herc the Jerk's winning streak!"

Hades deadpanned, "Problem: Zeus locked it tight, and I don't have the key."

Pete deflated, but then remembered the earlier topic of conversation, and put two and two together. "Heeey, I get it..."

"Bingo. All we gotta do is swipe that key, and reopen the Underdrome!"

Pete had more bad news, though. "Hate to tell ya, but that key is kinda particular. It won't work for just anyone, and that kid ain't no pushover!"

Hades had expected that; he'd seen Riku and Sora's little tug-of-war over the weapon in Hollow Bastion through his own scrying table. Of course, there were many ways to trick heroes into doing one's dirty work, and Hades had some bait in mind. "I think this calls for a woman's touch..."

 _To be continued in Chapter 18..._

 **VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

 _A/N: Yeah, this world went on forever, as has the wait since last update. I'm splitting it up to get something posted and get to work on the next part of the side story I posted under Blue Skies, Kingdom Hearts Online._

 _I came up with an explanation as to why no one from the Heart Timeline has crossed over so far - the Azure Timeline is covered in seithr. For the locals, it's something they're used to, but for people who don't know what to expect, it'd be very unpleasant. Even Ragna can be caught off guard when the seithr concentration rises too far._


	18. I'm What's Left

**Silver Linings**

 **Chapter 18: "I'm What's Left."**

 **VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

 _Mansion: Secret Server Room..._

Lambda peered around the darkened room she'd just opened. "Riku, can you find a switch for the lights?"

"I got it!" Riku's dark-sense mapped the room in seconds, and he flicked a bump on the wall behind them; that was probably the switch. Sure enough, several panels in the ceiling lit up with a blue-tinged glare, revealing the contents of the room.

There were five shelves in the room, arranged in four aisles that took up most of the floor space. This room was much larger than the other chambers in the basement. Each shelf was covered in gray boxes that hummed and flashed green lights at intervals. Riku walked down the center aisle. "Are these all computers?"

Lambda went down the aisle on Riku's right. "It sure looks like it. I bet this is where all the processing power comes from to maintain that Twilight Town simulation. I figured DiZ couldn't have made or run such a detailed simulation on just the terminal in his lab. And here's the source of that stability problem, right here. Check it out."

Lambda waved Riku over to her position and pointed out a group of computers that had solid red lights instead of blinking green ones. "These servers are broken. I guess DiZ didn't come in here very often. If it were just one or two failed units, there's enough redundant servers in the room to pick up the slack, but the whole next aisle failed, too. Still, it's odd that the only issues are on this side of the room. If the problem was aging hardware, they'd be crashing in random places. I think it's sabotage, but there's no external damage to the cases. Maybe the Nobodies breaking into the simulation put more stress on the parts of the system that contained those rooms."

Riku scratched his head, trying not to get lost in the details. He knew the basics of using a computer, but fixing one was above his pay grade. "Does it matter? We don't need the simulation anymore."

Lambda flip-flopped her hand. "We might. Axel left a portal behind in the simulated lab, and as far as I can tell, it's still there. We could nudge Sora back here and use the portal to infiltrate the Organization's stronghold. For that to work, though, we'll have to keep the remaining servers online."

Riku nodded. That made sense... "Wait, how do you know the Organization has a stronghold?"

"When Roxas set out to free Kingdom Hearts, he led us to that city, remember? It wasn't quite in the Realm of Darkness, but I doubt Sora could just fly there. Hey, how _is_ Sora getting around the worlds?"

Riku paused to wonder. They hadn't been following Sora's progress at all, so he'd never seen how Sora got off the Mysterious Tower after Mickey led them to the train. "I...actually don't know. Maybe Donald and Goofy still have their Gummi Ship. All we really need to know is that he can travel between worlds, and he'll probably be able to come back here. If we're going to lead him here, what do we need to do to make sure the simulation is still there for him?"

"I'm searching..." Lambda looked left and right. A strange whirring sound could briefly be heard coming from the back of her head, and then she floated over to a door in the left-hand wall. She keyed in a code sequence, opening a smaller room. "Here we go. Good thing DiZ only has one passcode for all his doors. This is the storeroom for replacement parts, and...looks like we're in luck! DiZ had ten complete servers just sitting around. I hope they're not too dusty."

"What's this?" Riku picked up a can in the back of the room and pressed the button on top. He flinched when pressurized air sprayed out of the can with a loud hiss.

Lambda grinned. "Good, DiZ had all the tools we need. We can use that canned air to blow the dust out. Just line up the hole with these vents and blow inside."

Riku did so, blowing plumes of dust out of the replacement computers one by one. "Where did DiZ get all this computer stuff? Did he build it all?"

Lambda picked up a stack of five computers. "I wouldn't be surprised. He had the motivation, the know-how, and more than a decade since the fall of Hollow Bastion to set all of this up. He probably invented this specific model of computer. Can you grab the other stack? I'll figure out how to hook these up, and then we'll set their software up with a terminal. I think there's one on the other side of the server room."

Riku grabbed the other five cases and hefted them up. He figured his enhanced strength would be able to handle it, but he stumbled as a wave of dizziness passed over him.

Lambda noticed immediately, and she set her stack down halfway to the shelf to check on Riku. "Are you okay, dear?" She grabbed the stack from the other side and helped lift it.

Riku shook his head to clear it. "Yeah... Just got a little lightheaded for a second. I think I'm just tired."

"Didn't you get any sleep after the Dustflier?" Lambda didn't know what happened after she passed out, but she thought Riku was as refreshed as she'd been when she woke up.

"No, I was too worried about you. And then I had to make sure the ice cream didn't melt..." The pair set the rest of the computers near the shelves with broken units.

Lambda frowned at Riku. "That hardly justifies not sleeping, especially after all those hard fights. You can't stay awake forever, no matter how awesome Mickey's healing spell is."

"What about the computers?" Riku was grasping at straws, and he wasn't really sure why.

"They'll still be here after you get a nap. They won't build up too much dust to function for months. Why in the worlds don't you want to sleep?" Lambda paused for a second when she realized that she was starting to sound like a mom, and giggled sheepishly. "Um...sorry for pushing you. I don't know what came over me."

Riku shook his head and smiled. "You were just worried. I guess I was, too. When you passed out, I didn't want to take any chances. I keep feeling like...if I get separated from you, I won't be able to find you again."

Lambda blinked. Riku was very attached to her, but wasn't she supposed to be the one on the leash? "I doubt it would be _that_ bad to be in separate rooms for a few hours. It's not like we're using Dark Corridors."

Riku laughed, but there was still an undercurrent of worry. "I know it doesn't make much sense. But...after all the times we've landed in trouble and pulled each other out...I don't want to miss a moment I could be spending with you." As he spoke, he reached out to grasp Lambda's hands, seemingly without meaning to do so.

Lambda blushed scarlet. That...that was the most romantic thing she'd ever heard Riku say. She hadn't expected her boyfriend to get ahead of her so quickly in that regard. Still, he had a point, and she felt the same way. "Then...what if we go to sleep at the same time?"

Riku blushed as much as Lambda. "You mean...?"

Lambda realized what she'd just implied, and pushed away from him, though she still held onto his hands. "No, no, no! Not like that! That's not going to get you any rest!"

Riku was the first to get his blush under control, and he chuckled at Lambda's flustered expression. "You have the cutest blush, Lambda. Well, maybe we can figure that stuff out when the worlds are safe. In the meantime, are there any beds big enough for both of us in this house? I'm about to fall unconscious right now."

"I think I saw one in the Colored Room." Lambda tried to get her blush under control, but it would take too long to stay standing there. She led Riku back to Namine's Colored Room, where they found a bed in one of the corners (camouflaged as another blotch of color among dozens) that was indeed larger than the one in the White Room.

Riku got in, and fell asleep almost as soon as Lambda slid under the multicolored covers beside him. He was just barely able to mumble a "Good night, Lambda..." before dozing off.

"Wow, you really were tired. Wait, is it okay to sleep in these coats? Maybe..." Lambda's musings were cut off when she had to let out a huge yawn. "Good night, Riku." With one last smile at her boyfriend, she closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep.

 **VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

 _Riku's dream..._

Blackness all around. Riku recognized this Darkness; it was his own. Which meant...

"It is about time we spoke again, Riku." Sure enough, there was Ansem.

Riku looked down at himself, and was surprised to see his own, unaltered body, or at least a projection of it. "What do you want? Aside from taking over my body and using it to kill Lambda, which I won't let you do. Duh."

Ansem grimaced. "That much is clear. It galls me to admit that you have well and truly trapped me here. Perhaps I did too well when I made you face your Darkness. However, know that I will escape at the instant your hold on this cage eases up, and continue my designs without your aid."

Riku ignored the obligatory threats. "Keep telling yourself that. So, this is a dream, or something? Well, as long as I'm here, I have a few questions for you."

Ansem growled at Riku's dismissive tone. "I am under no obligation to..."

Riku interrupted the Heartless, since he didn't want to sit through any more grandiose-yet-useless speeches. "Whatever. Does the name 'Xehanort' ring a bell? I saw it in the Heartless factory under Hollow Bastion. And Lambda found it in a set of files called 'Secret Ansem Reports.' _You're_ Xehanort, aren't you?"

Not-Ansem instinctively started another monologue. "Yes, and no. I am what remained of Xehanort when he cast aside his body. I am his independent heart, his Heartless. I am surprised it took you so-called 'heroes' so long to figure that much out...for all the good it will do you. My name is of no importance to any of my plans."

Riku frowned. Something didn't add up. "You claim you have plans, but your plan failed. Wouldn't it be impossible to steal the hearts of the worlds and make Kingdom Hearts again now that the Keyholes are sealed?"

Ansem gave Riku a confident grin. "Indeed. However, that is just one of many paths I might choose to take. As are you, Riku."

Riku saw a chance to get some real info. "Paths like letting your Nobody steal the Kingdom Hearts Organization XIII is working on? Or possessing someone in Organization? Or tricking Sora into doing some of your dirty work?"

"Indeed." Xehanort gave the mathematician's answer to be as vague as possible. Riku couldn't logically conclude which plan or plans Xehanort confirmed without extra information...

Riku smirked. "So you're planning for all of those, then. You're so _predictable._ You could never pass up an evil plan, and those were the basics of Maleficent's favorite ploys, which she loved talking about as much as you do. I'm sure you have an even bigger trap waiting that I would never see coming, too."

Xehanort blinked. When did this boy become so perceptive? "Impressive. Did you hone your logical analysis by dealing with that outsider?"

Riku chuckled. "It certainly helps to have Lambda as my girlfriend. Well, I guess I've got my work cut out for me now, because I'll stop you from taking any of those roads. By the way, what's up with you always saying 'indeed' when 'yes' would be faster? It's a waste of breath."

"You can try to block my ascendance, but you _will_ fail _._ I have other plans, and at least one of them is _destined_ to succeed. You cannot stop me." Xehanort didn't bother justifying his dramatic speeches to this boy. (In the back of whatever organ sentient Heartless used to think, not-Ansem probably believed his purpose was so grand that common words weren't descriptive enough for his greatness.)

Riku rolled his eyes, unimpressed. "Tell that to Sora when he stops you. No, on second thought, stew on it while I keep you locked up here. I've learned enough for now. See you later...or not." The boy faded out of his heart's prison as he woke up.

Now that he was alone in the pit of Riku's heart once more, Xehanort growled. Riku had played on the Heartless' taste for taunting people to learn more than the schemer intended to reveal. "Curse you, Riku! Well, no matter. I am prepared for any possibility. I look forward to the day you attempt to defeat Xemnas, O warriors of the Keyblade..."

 **VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

 _The Colored Room..._

Lambda suddenly jolted awake from a restful but dreamless sleep. There was a pain in her chest...no, a squeeze? A pulling sensation? What _was_ this? Her Observation protocols couldn't figure it out, which was odd. Lambda usually had no trouble deciphering Riku's emotions when she needed to.

 _He's out there..._

Who's out where?

 _R..._

An image of his back. Red jacket. White hair. A confident, protective stance...

But who was he? A memory of his smile, made sweeter by how rarely he used it... Green eyes - no, red? Both?

 _I know this person. R...Ra...Ragna._

 _Ragna the Bloodedge._

Lambda was breathing too quickly, agitated by the intense emotions that Ragna was somehow inspiring in her from multiple worlds away. The part of her mind that continued to think logically guessed that Ragna had stumbled through a Time Break, but where? Lambda couldn't track him based on this connection; this must have more to do with the heart than Observation. Should she look for him?

Instinctively, Lambda turned to Riku, hoping to shake him awake and ask for his opinion about this. When she saw Riku's calmly sleeping face, though, her connection with her boyfriend flared stronger than ever, muting the rush of memories from her past life...clone template...whoever "Saya" was.

Lambda steadily calmed down, and remained calm when the connection with Ragna suddenly cut off. He'd simply gone back to the Azure Timeline where he belonged - well, "belonged" as much as the walking temporal paradox called Ragna the Bloodedge could belong anywhere. Anyway, Lambda didn't need to dwell on him. "That's right...I don't need to go looking for Ragna. I can be happy right here." She snuggled back under the covers next to Riku, who continued sleeping, unaware of the emotional mess she had just sorted through.

Riku's lips twitched into a smirk in response to something in his dream. "I wonder what you're dreaming about?" Lambda cupped his cheek, and was surprised at how cool his skin was, compared to the bed. Riku's lower body temperature was undoubtedly a side effect of the Darkness he used to fight his battles against that same Darkness, but his cheek was actually quite pleasant to the touch. Lambda thought of a likely comparison, but she'd never actually sat under a tree on a sunny day, so she couldn't be sure it was the same feeling. Still, Lambda liked having this tactile reminder that Darkness wasn't always bad, despite the existence of the Heartless. She mused that she should try that sitting-under-a-tree thing with Riku someday...

Riku's lips twitched as he slowly woke up, and the first thing he saw was Lambda cupping his cheek. "Huh? Lambda? Is it morning already?"

Lambda giggled. "Good morning, dear. Well, I'm not sure what the locals call it, but..." She pulled away from Riku and got out her World Clock, noting that it responded to her query without being asked out loud. "It says here we've been asleep for eight hours. It's 6:05 AM, so it would be morning if the sun ever moved in Twilight Town."

"Well, I guess it's time to get up then." Riku shoved off the covers and swung his legs out of bed.

Lambda followed suit. "You looked like you were having a good dream, by the way."

Riku nodded. "Oh, you noticed? Ansem...Xehanort's Heartless...ugh, I just know I'm going to mix those two up again. Anyway, I talked with him. He wanted to gloat, or something. But why did he take so long to speak up? Maybe I just haven't fallen asleep often since the fight with Roxas, so he couldn't contact me because I wasn't dreaming."

Lambda shrugged. "I guess that might be it. What did he say?"

Riku smirked. "He told me that he couldn't break out of being trapped in my heart, but he was looking for the first chance to break free and try to finish his plan. I pointed out that Sora already made it impossible to do what he did before, but he gloated about other plans we don't know about. So I laid out some educated guesses, and he responded, and I quote, ' _Indeeeeeed._ ' So basically, I tricked him into talking too much and revealing some of his plans. His face when he realized what I was doing...priceless!"

Lambda cheered and gave Riku a high-five. "Awesome, Riku! So, what did you learn?"

Riku recounted the plans, ticking each one off on his fingers. "...And whatever super-complex plan he has to tie all of the others together. So we've got a lot of plans to thwart. At least we won't be bored..."

"But he can't do any of that directly while he's locked up in your heart, right?"

Riku nodded. "Exactly, and he's not going anywhere if I have anything to say about it, but his Nobody is still out there. Which member of Organization XIII could it be?"

Lambda tried to recall all the names they knew. "There are a few it couldn't be, because they were eliminated during or after the mess at Castle Oblivion. Of the remaining ones, there's Axel and Roxas, but I'm sure they're not him. Then there's this Xigbar guy who supposedly spies on people, and Namine said he reports to Xemnas. Wait, that's right! Xion's last request to Roxas was to 'set Kingdom Hearts free', so Xemnas couldn't get his hands on it. I think Xemnas is Xehanort's Nobody."

Riku scratched his head. "Xion had a last request for Roxas? Never mind, I'll probably remember when we bring her back. As for the rest of the Organization, there must be some logic to those names. They all have an X... Well, we know Roxas is Sora's Nobody, so...hmm..."

Lambda realized what the rule was. "I've got it! They're modified anagrams! 'Roxas' has the same letters as 'Sora', but with an X thrown in. That rule also fits the names I didn't recognize in the Secret Ansem Reports, like 'Even' is probably 'Vexen'. But 'Xemnas' doesn't anagram to 'Xehanort'..."

Riku randomly pointed a finger as he got an epiphany of his own. "But it does anagram to 'Ansem', which is the name his Heartless used. We figured it out!"

After another high-five, the pair got back to the Secret Server Room to finish the maintenance job from the day before.

 **VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

 _Back in the Secret Server Room..._

While they were hauling servers across the room, Riku asked Lambda, "Well, I told you about my dream. Did you dream of anything interesting?"

Lambda paused for a second, but then had to keep walking as the heavy stack of computers threatened to make her fall forward. "I can't remember what I dreamed about, but I was jolted awake when Ragna crossed a Time Break somewhere."

Riku set his stack down and leaned around it with an interested expression. "You've said a few things about him. How did Ragna crossing a Time Break wake you up?"

Lambda reached the destination and set her stack down before responding. "I can't explain it, and that's the weirdest part. It's like my Observation was being blocked, or there was some interference, but I don't know what could do that. I think I've been kind of cheating until now, using Observation to help figure out your feelings and mine. Whatever that feeling was, Ragna seems to have a strong connection with me. Even so, I've decided that I don't need to go looking for him. After all, you're right here, Riku. One look at you was all it took to figure out who's more important to me."

Riku blushed so hard he looked like a Red Nocturne. "W-whoa, that's..."

"...The most romantic thing that's ever come out of my mouth?" Lambda guessed, though she also sported an equally-bright blush. "It wasn't that great, compared to what you told me before we fell asleep."

Riku gave Lambda a light shove. "I almost forgot that cheesy line. Hey, I thought we weren't keeping score!"

"Right, right. It's a good way to acknowledge when you've been nice to me, though. Now then, stand back and let me show you how a Prime Field Device handles tech support." Lambda cracked her knuckles and set into a flurry of activity, disconnecting failed machines and replacing them almost too fast for Riku to track. She had the replacement servers physically set up in less than a minute. "And _done!_ How's my time?"

Riku checked his World Clock and grinned sheepishly. "Ten servers set up in fifty-nine point two seconds. I...might need a slower demonstration if I need to try it myself."

"I could slow down, but honestly, I'd like to keep being better than you at this. I don't know if you've noticed, but you've been doing better than me in most of the fights we've gotten into recently." Lambda recalled rating the two of them on her threat assessment scale. She wasn't kidding when she rated Riku on par with gods. Meanwhile, Lambda herself was getting weaker over time. Was it because she didn't have enough Darkness to effectively power Murakumo?

"Good point. You're always going to be better with computers, maps, and logic than me, though." Riku would have taken ages to get to the root of his problems with Darkness on his own, whether Lambda was "cheating" through her Observer abilities or not.

Lambda smiled gratefully. "Thanks. Still, it's kind of embarrassing to be a sword that's less effective in combat than my Master."

Riku stopped grinning. "Lambda, you are not just a sword. You're my friend, my girlfriend, an irreplaceable partner, and you have many things to be proud of besides fighting. Can I make that any clearer to you?"

Lambda's head drooped. "I...I don't know. I know I can be more than what I was made for, but my thoughts keep looping back to that. Maybe I'm just not built to believe it."

Riku grabbed Lambda's shoulders. "Stop that train of thought right there. Take that as an order if you have to, but I'm going to help you grow out of needing that mindset, _whatever_ it takes. I'll start by giving you some more experience in different tasks you're good at, such as getting these computers to work. What else needs to be done?"

Lambda's expression blanked for a second at the order, then perked up. "Acknowledged. Thanks for the support! Now I need to set up the software on the replacement computers and synchronize the new drives with the simulation. I'll need a terminal...found it!" She darted over to a corner surrounded by low walls, which gave some privacy from the security cameras that would otherwise have told Lambda where the terminal was. "Logging in. Password: Sea-salt ice cream. Why did DiZ use the same password on both networks? Here's the simulation engine...synchronizing new drives... That'll take a few minutes. In the meantime, let's poke around and see if that bigot left behind any other info we can use."

Riku smiled proudly over Lambda's shoulder as he watched her do her thing. Still, he wanted to help search somehow. "Is there a history of what DiZ used this terminal for?"

Lambda dove into the data. "Checking...yes, there are system logs dating back to before we first came to Twilight Town. It looks like DiZ spent most of his time making this simulation, both before we met him and while we were world-hopping to distract the Organization from this hideout. It's a pretty ingenious way to trap a powerful Organization member, and there are notes on how he planned to build the simulated townspeople using data from the real ones... Hey, around the time Roxas was put inside, his predictions about the virtual people started to miss the mark. He has a bunch of angry notes about how hard it was to categorize hearts, and how they kept growing beyond his hypotheses. I was right about the growing-hearts thing after all!"

Riku chuckled. "Neat, another thing to rub in DiZ's face the next time we see him. Is there anything else?"

"I'm checking the most recent entries... Deleted? There's a string of actions here that DiZ wiped from the logs. The last thing he did before the logs were deleted was make a small text file titled 'Diary Entry: End.' It was written the day before Sora woke up. Confirm: do we read DiZ's diary? Yes/sure?"

Riku laughed at Lambda's faked protocol-speak (he could tell it was a joke by the mirth in her voice, which would have been flat and emotionless otherwise), and at the foregone conclusion she presented as a choice. "Secret option three: totally!"

Lambda laughed with him and opened the file, but as she read aloud, the laughter drained from her voice.

"'Dear Diary, this will be my final entry. I barely even started writing this diary, but it's time. I have only one more task to take care of with Sora, and then I can prepare to infiltrate Organization XIII's stronghold with a clear conscience. According to my calculations, my Kingdom Hearts Encoder is almost perfectly tuned...but I doubt my hypothesis reflects reality in the slightest. My predictions never seem to come true. Luckily, because I have learned at least that much, I built a safeguard into the Encoder. If it cannot contain Kingdom Hearts as data, then it will self-destruct, hopefully taking Kingdom Hearts with it...along with myself.'"

Lambda was shocked that the next paragraph was directed not at Dear Diary, but at the pair reading it. "'Riku and Lambda, if anyone finds this data, it will likely be you, so consider this my last request. It will take several weeks to make the final adjustments, and then I will wait. Eventually, Sora will do enough damage to Organization XIII's operations, simply by acting as he always does, that they will leave an opening in their defenses through which I can infiltrate their stronghold. By then, Sora should be almost ready to storm the World That Never Was. As for you two, you should not follow me, but instead follow Sora. Protect him as only you can. He holds my last hope, as he holds the hopes of all worlds.'"

The message ended with an admission and an apology. "'Riku, you taught me that all roads are connected, and that all paths have some good along the way, so you know we will meet again. Lambda, I pray you will be satisfied with the handhold I found. My descent into Darkness stops here. I won't ask for your forgiveness, but I will atone for the people I've hurt as effectively as I can. If I never get a chance to tell you this in person...thank you for showing me how I lost my way. Lastly, King Mickey, my old friend...I only hope you will remember me by the conversations we shared in Radiant Garden those several years ago, not as the vengeful specter I became. Farewell, all of you. Ansem the Wise, signing off.'"

After Lambda finished reading, she simply sat there. Riku said what they were both thinking. "Maybe DiZ wasn't so stupid or heartless after all."

Lambda wiped an errant tear from her cheek. "That's so sad. Now I feel really bad for laughing at him. Sure, he needed a kick in the metaphorical rump, and I apparently did help him turn himself around, but I can hardly feel good about fixing cruelty with cruelty."

The terminal beeped, returning Lambda's attention to the task at hand. "The synchronization process is complete. Now the simulation will remain stable, though I should probably delete the unnecessary rooms so Sora doesn't get lost before finding the portal." With a swipe over the screen and a few keystrokes, Lambda did just that, deleting all the areas of the simulation except for the Computer Room (the entry point) and the room with the portal.

It suddenly occurred to Lambda that the virtual Twilight Town was inhabited by virtual people with real hearts. She almost had a panic attack, but reminded herself that the hearts that had grown in the simulation had been on the corrupted drives, so she hadn't been the one who killed the entire population of Twilight Town; the Organization was. She started wondering what it would be like to have to live inside a slowly failing simulation instead, but firmly stepped away from the computer, leaving such thoughts behind.

Lambda saved her changes and logged out of the terminal. "Alright, now that it's all set up, all we need to do is get together a set of clues that will lead Sora back here without outright telling him. He needs to find the main computer room and figure out the password."

"Speaking of that, what _is_ the password?" Riku wondered.

"It's 'Sea-Salt Ice Cream', spelled and capitalized exactly like how it's written on the ice cream vendor's sign. There aren't even any numbers, so it should be pretty easy to get Sora to guess the password if we just give him a bar of ice cream." Now that Lambda knew DiZ had made his security easy on purpose, making the password a tangible, popular object was actually some impressive foresight.

Riku nodded with approval. "That's great news. But how will we get Sora to come back here in the first place? He seemed pretty eager to leave this mansion behind. I know I would be spooked."

"That's where the system logs come in. I found the original photo of Roxas and the Usual Suspects standing in front of the mansion, before DiZ edited Roxas out of it to mess with his head. I'll just print it out at the main computer room. Let's go." Lambda led the way through the security doors back to the room with the VT3D (Virtual Twilight Town Transfer Device, as an observer might recall from much earlier).

 **VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

 _Mansion: Computer Room..._

Lambda stopped in front of DiZ's big, holographic terminal and spread her arms apart, conjuring a holographic interface of her own. "Connection established. Uploading image file...complete. Printing 1 document... Done." A table against the wall behind her turned out to be a combination printer/copier, and it ejected a crisp, 8 x 10, glossy photo of Roxas and the Usual Suspects. The Prime Field Device disconnected from the computer and picked up the photo, shaking it a couple times in case DiZ's laser printer left loose toner on the paper.

Riku clapped Lambda on the shoulder. "Whoa, that was fast! You're like a digital star athlete!" Lambda seemed about to wave off the compliment, but Riku persisted. "I'm sure it seemed simple to you, Lambda, but that just shows how much better you are at using computers than anyone else I know. Now we just need to wait for a good opportunity to catch up to Sora, buy some ice cream, and stick it in a box with this. I hope the ice cream doesn't melt before we get it to him."

Lambda still thought she could have gone faster, but decided to accept the compliment. "Thanks for trying so hard to cheer me up, Riku. About the ice cream...when I dismiss my Black Coat to summon Murakumo, does the coat end up in the Realm of Darkness?"

Riku thought it over. "I guess it would. What does that have to do with ice cream?"

"Time is either totally stopped in the Realm of Darkness, or so slow that it makes no difference. I bet that I could put the ice cream in my pocket and dismiss my Black Coat, and it wouldn't have even started to melt by the time we need it."

Riku's proud smile, the only part of his face visible under his hood, got wider as the implications dawned on him. "You. Are. A genius. The only problem is that Xigbar will find us if you're not wearing the hood. But does that really matter?"

Lambda grinned back. "Let them bring it on. I was sick of hiding, anyway. But we'd better stay out of the mansion afterward, or they might sabotage us. I know _I_ wouldn't want to fight us directly."

"Then let's go buy some ice cream and stalk Sora for a while. If they're going to be watching us anyway, we might as well be in the same place as someone they're already watching."

Riku and Sora had never really competed in hide-and-seek, but Riku was sure he'd be able to match the status quo from other their contests. The score he'd shoot for by the end of each day would be: Sora 0, Riku [insert arbitrarily large number here].

"So we'll be hiding from Sora? That sounds like fun. And it would definitely be more productive than fighting giant Heartless with no Keyblade." At least Mickey helped them actually slay the Dustflier. Lambda did _not_ want a rematch with that thing. "Lead the way!"

 **VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

 _A/N: This chapter took way. Too. LONG. In the interest of not needing to be asked whether I've died between chapters, I'm going to follow only Riku and Lambda's group from this point on, rather than switching POV's periodically to Sora, Donald, and Goofy. Luckily, the two groups will be in the same place, so that works out perfectly!_


	19. I Trust You

**Silver Linings**

 **Chapter 19: "I Trust You."**

 _A/N: I think this update went faster than last time, but that's not really saying much..._

 **VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

 _Twilight Town: Tram Common..._

Riku and Lambda emerged from the hole in Twilight Town's wall. Riku sighed in relief that the town was peaceful and active again. He led Lambda to a healing-item shop which doubled as the most popular Sea-Salt Ice Cream Shop in town. The old lady who ran the shop raised an eyebrow at the cloaked newcomers, but greeted them with a warm smile anyway...as soon as she finished serving the other customers in line. Sea-salt ice cream was the town's most popular treat, and many people were celebrating the disappearance of the monsters from the streets.

Ten minutes spent standing in line later, Riku received three bars of ice cream. "One for me, one for my girlfriend, and one to take to my other friend, who hasn't tried this stuff yet." He brought Lambda off to an enclosed space near the hole in the wall, and gave her two of the bars.

Lambda stuffed one bar into her pocket, then dismissed the Black Coat, leaving her clad in her bodysuit, from which she extended her white cape. "I hope this ice cream doesn't get reduced to mush by the time we need it. But the password is right on the wrapper anyway; that should be enough."

Riku nodded. "Right. For now, though, let's enjoy these other two bars, as a reward for waiting in line for ten minutes." He tore open his wrapper...and was immediately accosted by a swarm of bees. "Argh! Get your own ice cream, you pests!" He summoned Soul Eater and swatted the insects out of the air with his sword and the Power of Darkness. "Phew. That was probably the most unnecessary thing I've ever used the Darkness for."

Lambda couldn't answer; she was dealing with brain freeze. After a moment, she grumbled despite wearing a wide smile, "I don't think I'm ever going to get the hang of eating this stuff. It's too tasty to give up, though!"

Riku sighed heavily in an attempt to cover up a snort. How many times had Lambda gotten brain freeze now? "We should probably get going. It's no wonder this hangout wasn't taken; there are bees everywhere!"

Lambda huffed, "They're welcome to the brain freeze, in my opinion. Should we go looking for Sora?"

Riku nodded. "Yeah. Where should we start?"

"Probably in the place where Ragna showed up. I'll make a Corridor. We'd better move fast; Sora's already moved on from that spot." Lambda raised a hand and summoned a Dark Corridor, then offered her hand to Riku. They stepped through the portal hand in hand, like they always did.

 **VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

 _Underworld: Inner Chamber..._

The instant Riku and Lambda stepped out of the Dark Corridor into a dingy cavern, they were greeted by a yelp. "Ah! I thought I was safe here!"

Lambda's gaze locked onto the person who'd spoken. Black Coat, blond hair in a heavily-gelled mullet, powerful Nobody aura; yep, this guy was an Organization XIII member. "Is this the part where you try to 'eliminate the impostors', or can we just act like we never saw you?"

"Wait, lemme check..." The unusual Nobody Master dug through his pockets and fished out a set of note cards. "Did that...failed that...X-Face can't verify that... Nope, there's nothing in my notes about impostors. So, since I've done more work today than I plan to for the next month, I'm just going to sit here and chill. If the boss wants you two eliminated, he should send someone who actually does that fighting thing."

Riku was quite surprised. "Wait, you don't fight at all?"

The Nobody shrugged. "Meh. I _can_ , but fighting is like work. Which is like exercise. Which is like sweating. Which is gross. I'd rather just kick back and jam on my sitar, but apparently I have to do _work._ " He emphasized the word _work_ like it was the most vile of curses.

"Well, at least your logic is sound." Lambda sat down against the cavern wall, then immediately recoiled back to a standing position. "Ew, the walls are covered in some sort of slime! Anyway, which Organization member are you?"

The Nobody shuffled through his notecards again before responding. "OK, here we are... 'I am Demyx, Number IX in Organization XIII, the Melodious Nocturne, Master of Water, and leader of the Dancer Nobodies.' I can hardly believe all of those titles fit on my business card! Good thing they do, or I would never be able to rattle it all off by heart...seeing as I haven't got a heart."

Lambda blinked incredulously. "The Organization has business cards?" The revelation even distracted her from objecting to the no-hearts falsehood.

Demyx grinned, showing off teeth so bright they should have come with a warning. "Nope, I write my notes myself. I dunno why I don't get a bonus for all the extra work of making these cards."

Lambda forced herself not to roll her eyes. "It will forever be a mystery."

Riku jumped in, "So what were you here for?"

Demyx paused for a second. "Well, it's probably classified, but I already failed, so it doesn't matter who knows... I was here stealing this weird stone thingy that keeps this place from cursing heroes. It was supposed to lure Roxas to me, and it worked, but I couldn't get him to come back with me."

Riku's jaw dropped out of his hood. "Wait, did you just say Roxas?!"

Lambda made a quick guess. "He probably means Sora."

"Yeah, Roxas said something like that." Demyx started chewing his nails in residual worry. "He tore through my water clones way faster than I thought he would. I _really_ don't wanna be the first guy they send to actually fight him..." He suddenly perked up and switched to an overly-chipper tone. "Well, I've gotta go; Sai'x will already want to punish me for my 'sub-optimal performance'. I really don't want to be punished, but... Eh, arguing about it would be boring, too. Thanks for the chat, you two; you're, like, the first complete people I've ever talked to who didn't pull out nasty weapons the instant I showed up. Have fun doing...whatever you're doing!" Demyx vanished in a swirl of Darkness.

Riku spent another moment just standing there. "Did any of that just happen?"

Lambda giggled. "Yes, dear, it all happened. Let's just count ourselves lucky we didn't run into someone more like Lexaeus."

Riku shook his head to change gears. "Right. Now, where is Sora? Can you track him from here?"

Lambda went still and let her protocols take over. "Scanning... Scan failed. Local interference detected. Maybe it's part of the curse Demyx mentioned?"

Riku tried to sniff Sora out as well, with a little more success. "Well, we don't need to stick around; he already left this world. Let's pop over to Hollow Bastion or something and try again." He formed a Dark Corridor and pulled Lambda through.

 **VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

 _Hollow Bastion: Borough..._

The pair appeared at the entrance to the Bailey. "Okay, Lambda, try scanning again."

"Scanning... Target located. Searching for location name... _Disney Castle_. Addendum: interference from the Power of Light prevents ingress via Dark Corridor."

"Oh, yeah, Mickey talked about that. The Cornerstone...of Light, I think he called it?" Riku then noticed that Lambda was speaking through the control protocol again. "Oops! Sorry, Lambda! Speak freely."

Lambda smiled. "Acknowledged, but I was already done with the last order. It's sweet that you're worried, though. Should we count that as a point for you?"

Riku shook his head. "No, that would give me an unfair advantage, since I do that so often. I was just correcting my own mistake. Wait, are we keeping score again?"

Lambda shrugged. "I can if you want. I can even set up counters to keep track of both of our scores accurately."

Well, if they were both going to end up getting points anyway... "Yeah, do that. If nothing else, it'll be something to look forward to at the end of the day... Aw, man, I gave you another order." 

"Seriously, Riku, it's no big deal! Okay, the scoreboard's set up. Are there any points you'd like to add to my score? I'm giving you one for buying me an ice cream bar in addition to the one we're using as a clue."

Riku thought for a second, then said, "You get one for handling Demyx without letting a fight start, and one more for making sure I got some rest."

Lambda nodded. "Okay, the current score is Riku: 1, Lambda: 2. You know, I could just add more points to your score whenever..."

Riku blinked; why would Lambda give him free points? "That's okay. I trust you not to cheat in my favor."

Lambda suddenly bounced forward and gave Riku a kiss on the cheek. "That's another point for you!"

Riku blinked away that warm, fuzzy, Lambda-kissed-me feeling, but he was still confused. "Huh? What did I do?"

Lambda smiled up at him. "You said 'I trust you.' What could be more romantic than that?"

Riku thought about it for a moment, but couldn't come up with an example. Wait, there _was_ one thing. "That smile. You smile a lot when I accidentally do romantic things, and I really love your smile."

Lambda's smile briefly became a smirk. "Point: Riku."

Riku spluttered. This wasn't how competitions worked! But if that was how Lambda wanted to play... "Hey, you should count one for yourself! That smile was definitely worth a point."

"Sure. You're the best judge of that. Point: Lambda. What should we do while we wait for Sora to get out of Disney Castle, though? ...Wait, he's right here! He just went into Merlin's house!" Lambda rechecked the scan data, and found that the barrier keeping Riku and herself out of Mickey's homeworld was weaker than it had been when she last scanned it - which was barely a minute ago. "Something's wrong with Disney Castle's barrier, so Sora might be here to ask Merlin for help."

Riku was already about to jump off the ledge they were standing to reach the houses. "Quick, let's spy on him!"

 **VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

 _Outside Merlin's house..._

Lambda caught up with Riku right as he pressed an ear to Merlin's door.

From inside the house, they heard Merlin wheeze, "What is all that racket? O-oh, it's you three! It seems you've learned a bit since I last saw you."

"Really?"

"Hey, let's talk about the problem! It's Maleficent! She's back! She..." The rest was unintelligible - Donald's unique speech impediments made his fast-paced explanation sound like gibberish.

Merlin evidently thought so, too, since the babble was suddenly cut off with a distinctly magical _poof_ sound.

Lambda reported, "Teleportation detected. All targets lost. Merlin must have teleported them back to Disney Castle to see the problem for himself. He's clearly got quite the reputation - the first solution Sora's group thought of when they ran into a magical problem that's never happened before was to ask Merlin about it."

Riku was more worried about what he managed to decipher from Donald's explanation. "Did Donald just say Maleficent is back?"

Lambda replayed the memory with several audio filters, trying to make more than two of those words intelligible. "I... _think_ he did. Maleficent was revived somehow? That can't be good!"

Riku grimaced at his memories of Maleficent. " _Definitely_ not good. That witch's name says it all. Pete must be pleased about this. I'm sure Sora's got this problem covered, though. While they're fighting over control of Disney Castle, can we predict where Sora will go next?"

Lambda considered that option. "Maybe. I would need to study the paths he's using, which could take some time." She suddenly stood up with protocol-perfect posture. "Temporal anomaly detected. Analyzing... Whoa! Speaking of time, Sora just time-traveled to the past! I knew Merlin was a powerful wizard, but that's just crazy!"

A gruff voice startled both of them. "Of course he's crazy! If he's not turning my hair orange, he's setting fire to my Gummi Garage! That old loon's had it out for me ever since I had to install a computer in his house."

Lambda whipped around to face, "Cid? When did you get here?"

Cid grumped, "I can stand wherever I want! What, did you think you two were the only ones on the street? Nice to see you're doing fine, by the way."

Riku spoke in Ansem's voice. "I wouldn't say we've been 'fine', exactly..."

Cid jumped in surprise. "Great Gummi Blocks! You scared the wheat out of my mouth!" Indeed, Cid's ever-present, half-chewed stalk of wheat had fallen on the ground, prompting the master Gummi Ship designer to pull a new stalk out of one of his pockets. "For a second there, I thought you were Ansem! That impersonation sure is spot on. When did you learn to imitate voices?"

Riku pulled up his hood slightly while explaining his new look with his original voice. "It's more like I reverse-body-snatched Ansem himself, actually. I had to release enough of the Power of Darkness to beat someone and help Sora wake up, but now I look like this permanently."

Cid grinned. "Well, I'm proud of ya, son! You must have really stuck it to Ansem, and you're gonna put up with looking like him to help Sora? I recall you being some whiny kid who Sora wouldn't shut up about saving, but now I've gotta agree with him. That's some top-grade heroic resolve!"

Riku breathed a sigh of relief. "I guess I really have made some progress. And if you're okay with me looking like this, Cid, then I can probably convince Sora."

"I _told_ you so, Riku." Lambda admonished him. "There really isn't much point in hiding from him like we have."

Riku groaned good-naturedly. "Yeah, I should have known better. But we should still let Sora handle as much as he can; he's supposed to save all the worlds someday, right? He'll need the practice."

Lambda nodded. "True. Plus, we haven't even caught up to him to try the hide-and-seek strategy, which still sounds like fun. Oh, there's an idea! Cid, do you have any way to chart out which world Sora might visit next?"

Cid scoffed. "Obviously! Who would be dumb enough to fly a Gummi Ship without finding their destination on the World Map? Here! I started handing out complimentary World Maps to people who fly with Cid's Gummi Biz, and you two were my first customers, so here you go!" He pulled a small metal box out of another pocket (how many pockets did Cid have?) and handed it to Lambda. "Just press the button to turn on the display, then swipe around the hologram. Easy peasy! Now scram, ya punks. I have to make sure the old loon hasn't busted any more sensitive equipment. My Claymore Defense Grid project is far enough behind schedule without him misinterpreting what a 'CD burner'is."

Lambda shook Cid's hand and waved him toward Merlin's door. "Okay, good luck! Thanks a bunch for the map!" She walked back toward the Bailey, and Riku followed her as she activated the map.

"Whoa, cool!" The cube projected a 3-D hologram of all the nearby worlds, with Hollow Bastion in the center. Each world was represented by a rock with a few landmarks sticking out of it, like Riku remembered seeing from the window of Cid's Gummi Ship when he brought them to Twilight Town. "So if I..." touching the hologram made the worlds shift, allowing Riku to drag the view around and locate the next path Sora could take. "Port Royal, huh? Looks like he'll have to open this gate first. It seems pretty straightforward."

Lambda was equally impressed with Cid's technology, but... "How come Cid has something like this, but he still uses CDs for storage? Anyway, we should let Sora open the next of these World Gates before we follow him. Meanwhile, let's find a good place other than DiZ's mansion to rest when we need to. I wonder if we could sneak into Beast's Castle again?"

Riku tore his gaze off of the map as Lambda shut it down. "Good idea; we could see if Namine made one of her Colored Rooms there."

 _"I'll save you the trouble."_ A Dark Corridor formed under the pair's feet, and Lambda barely had time to cling to Riku's waist before it sucked them both in.

 **VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

 _Beast's Castle: The Colored Room..._

Riku and Lambda landed in a tangled heap, having fallen from the colorful ceiling of Namine's second safe room. The memory witch stood nearby, with a hand clapped over her mouth in embarrassment. "I'm sorry. I'm still practicing with Dark Corridors."

Lambda disentangled herself from being wrapped around Riku. "The fall was no problem, but could you give us some warning before you grab us again? The last time we went through a Dark Corridor without holding hands, we got separated from each other, so I rushed and grabbed Riku too tightly this time." Riku rubbed his sore sides in agreement.

"I must have scared you. I'll try to form the Corridor in front of you next time." Namine clutched a binder in one hand, which she passed to Lambda. "Here, I wanted to give you these. They're reports written by the Organization that I found in Roxas' memories. I'm not sure how he got his hands on the other members' diaries, but they should have some useful information."

Lambda hummed in thought as she glanced over the hand-copied diary entries. "I guess you've been busy! Nice handwriting, too. But why would Roxas have stolen diaries? Xion strikes me as more likely to take things from the other members out of curiosity - it's not like the Organization would have taught concepts like respect for people's personal belongings to someone they thought of as a tool. Maybe you found these entries in Xion's memory, but mistook her for Roxas?"

Namine nodded. "That's probably it. I thought you'd like to read them; you're even more of the curious type than Xion. Right, Lambda?"

Lambda nodded with a giggle. "So you noticed! Here, Riku, could you read through this stack? I think this one on top is Demyx's." There was no name listed, but the casual writing style gave it away.

A few minutes later, the pair had read all the reports. It became a sort of game to try and guess who had penned each document. Riku nailed one in particular that had to be from Xemnas' own diary; the grandiose word choices and focus on the topic of Kingdom Hearts certainly sounded like they came from an aspect of Xehanort. It mentioned that the efforts of the Organization's Keyblade wielders, Roxas and [a smudge of ink where the second name should be], had paid off, causing Kingdom Hearts to appear. The phrase Xemnas actually used was more complicated, of course: "Kingdom Hearts waxes large in the sky." Maybe this Kingdom Hearts was like a moon?

Namine glanced up from where she sat in deep thought. "Were the reports helpful at all?"

Riku replied, "I think so. It says the Organization made Kingdom Hearts appear by having Roxas and...I'm guessing this smudge here is Xion...they did something with their Keyblades. Did they ever finish what they were doing?"

Namine shook her head. "No. Roxas and Xion both left the Organization before they gathered enough hearts to complete Kingdom Hearts. When you fought Roxas, he wanted to split Kingdom Hearts back into individual hearts, but I'm not sure how he would have done that. Affecting Kingdom Hearts is supposed to be beyond the power of a Keyblade."

Riku smirked. "Ansem...er, Xehanort's Heartless, said something along those lines when Sora beat him. 'The Keyblade alone cannot seal the Door to Darkness!' So we used two Keyblades. I'm just glad it worked...but the Kingdom Hearts we're dealing with now is probably different. DiZ, who was apparently Ansem the Wise, left us a message about how he wants to use some sort of machine on Kingdom Hearts to keep it away from the Organization, possibly by blowing up both Kingdom Hearts and DiZ's machine."

"It wouldn't be the craziest thing that's happened in the short time I've existed," Namine pointed out. "But what will _you_ do when that time comes?"

Riku thought for a moment before replying. "I'll support Ansem...Ansem the Wise, as well as I can, but Sora's more important. Lambda and I were planning on sneaking around behind Sora and guiding him to the Organization's stronghold. We've already set up a way to let him reach their homeworld and put together a few clues to give him."

"But why not just tell him directly?" Namine wondered.

Riku flinched. "People keep asking me that. Remember, I look like Ansem - the Heartless Ansem - right now. I don't want Sora to try to slice me up the instant I show my face. If that happened...I might seem calm and composed right now, but if Sora hated me, it would probably undo all the progress I've made at dealing with my Darkness."

Lambda put a comforting hand on Riku's shoulder. "Don't take that risk if there's any doubt, dear. I certainly don't want you to fall back into being as mopey and depressed as you were when we met!"

Riku flinched again. "I can't really deny I was like that..."

"You were. But you're doing better now, and I want to make sure you keep getting better! Besides, Namine," Lambda shot the Nobody a pointed look, "If there's no reason for Riku to stay away from Sora, why would you need to wait to go back to Kairi?"

"You know it's not the same thing," Namine protested childishly, but then calmed down and gave a better explanation. "When I return to Kairi, I won't be a separate being anymore. It'll make Kairi more stable in a lot of ways, but I'm not sure whether I would still have my own identity within Kairi's heart somehow, if my new and incomplete emotions would change Kairi's personality, or if I'd simply vanish. No matter how necessary it is, and no matter if I deserve it or not, just the thought of becoming a part of someone else scares me to death."

Lambda had to agree; that was also part of the purpose of the Murakumo Units, and Lambda couldn't begin to figure out how she felt about becoming part of Ragna, the person she would have been fused with. And the product of the fusion would be the Black Beast... Namine wouldn't become a monster from this, but she would lose everything she had right now. "That's a heavy decision. Take as much time as you need to think about it, Namine. And make sure you have no regrets if you go through with it."

Riku asked, "Did Roxas disappear when he returned to Sora?"

Namine shrugged. "I'm not sure what happened, but his body definitely vanished. That was the whole point; Roxas was Sora's body, while Sora was just his heart. Roxas' personality might have affected Sora's, and who knows what goes on inside Sora's heart? There's already at least one other boy's heart inside Sora, so Roxas may still be in there."

Lambda mused, "Maybe Xion's in there with Roxas... Wait, Roxas had Sora's body? But he looked nothing like Sora!"

"That's...complicated," Namine began. "Nobodies like Roxas are formed from the body of a person when their heart is removed, which would normally vanish when they turn into a Heartless. The person's willpower can keep them from fading away, but they often change in appearance. The lesser Nobody Servants, like Dusks, don't look anything like the humans they used to be. Organization XIII's members also look slightly different from their complete selves, but Roxas is definitely the most removed from his Other's appearance. It has to do with the other boy in Sora's heart, but I'm not sure how they're connected...

Namine took a deep breath and indicated herself before continuing to explain. "As for me, I'm not the same kind of Nobody as the others. I don't have a body at all. Yes, I know that sounds like nonsense. I'm sitting in the room, right? But Heartless don't have bodies, either. They're made of pure Darkness, so you can't break their arms, for example. I think I'm made of willpower, but I don't think I'm very strong-willed. DiZ never did figure out what I really am, and neither have I."

Lambda pointed a finger in the air. "I think I get what you're talking about!"

" _What?_ " Riku gaped at his girlfriend. "Can you break it down for me? I'm totally lost."

Lambda put a hand on her chin, thinking of how to explain it. "Well, in the Azure Timeline, they have this stuff called seithr. It's usually a gas that's heavier than air, but if it's Observed by someone with the power of the Azure - in overly simple terms, the Azure is the energy used to Observe - seithr can be shaped into any kind of matter or energy. The world of the Azure Timeline is actually made of shaped seithr. It has the potential to be anything, but once its form is set, it can't be changed except by Phenomenon Intervention from another Observer who's at least as strong as the first. They would need the power of the Azure, and that would would basically make them a god."

"Anyway, I think Light and Darkness are similar to seithr. They're components of everything we see, and like how Sora's body turned into Roxas, the things they make up can be changed. I bet Xemnas wants Kingdom Hearts for the same reason Terumi wants the Azure; if Xemnas could control Kingdom Hearts, he could mold the Light and Darkness of the worlds any way he wants. If that's his plan, we've got to stop him!"

" _Stop him? As if!_ " A new, drawling voice echoed from nowhere. A Black-Coated member of Organization XIII appeared in the corner of the Colored Room, but not through a Dark Corridor. A split-second distortion made the air seem to bulge outward, and then a Nobody Master stood in the previously empty space. "Yo, the name's Xigbar. I'm Xemnas' Number II, and I've had the job since way before Organization XIII was even formed. But that's a story for another time. I just thought I'd drop in and let you kids know that you can't hide from me." Xigbar removed his hood, revealing a battle-scarred face. One piercing, _familiar_ yellow eye was visible, but an eyepatch covered the other. His black hair was streaked with gray and pulled into a long ponytail, which was somehow hidden by his hood before. A smirk curled his lips up toward his unusually pointy ears.

Riku thought Xigbar bore an uncanny resemblance to Xehanort's Heartless. Was it significant? He'd have to figure it out later. "So now that you've let us know, what else are you here for?"

"I brought some good news for you twerps! Xemnas has called off the hunt for the impostors, as long as you stay out of The World That Never Was. In case you were wondering, that's the city you snagged Roxas in. We got pretty much all we could out of the li'l Tiger, anyway, so it's no skin off my back. You just make sure Sora stays in one piece, now that you've gone to so much trouble to put him back together again!"

"Do you get anything out of keeping Sora safe?" Lambda wondered.

Xigbar made some dramatic gestures of sorrow. "Oh, you wound me with your implied accusations!" The Nobody suddenly straightened up. "Ha, as if! You just read Xemnas' diary, right? Shame on you, by the way. We need a Keyblade Wielder to complete Kingdom Hearts, and it doesn't have to be one of our own members. Someone just has to beat the Heartless with the Keyblade, and Sora was gonna do that anyway. Especially since we've cooked up a bunch of Heartless he'll have to fight!"

Lambda glared at Xigbar as she realized something. "You 'cooked up' more Heartless? Then you've been helping the Heartless steal people's hearts!"

Xigbar pointed both of his index fingers at Lambda and wiggled them upward like finger guns. "Bingo! I guess I can't fool the eyes of an Observer! You two probably didn't notice, but the Heartless are getting stronger again, too. So if Sora doesn't beat them, they'll overrun the worlds just like they almost did last year! Except this time, they'll need a more direct approach. The worlds will end up more like Hollow Bastion. And if Sora does beat the Heartless, Xemnas completes Kingdom Hearts for us! Man, I love being on the winning team!"

Lambda asked, "Do you really think Xemnas will use Kingdom Hearts to restore the Organization's hearts?"

Xigbar shrugged. "Maybe he will, maybe he won't! It'll be more fun if I don't spoil the surprise."

"Don't you care about this?" Riku asked.

Xigbar waved his hands in front of him, as though warding off an unwanted hug. "Nope! I'm a Nobody, remember? Caring is above my pay grade! Oops, would you look at my wrist! I've gotta cut story time short. Oh, and if you run into Axel, gimme a holler so I can terminate him. He's probably going to be traitor number three. Roxas was the first, and you're the second, Namine. Marluxia doesn't count; he couldn't even get started. Feel free to join back up with Kairi, by the way. You'd be taking yourself out of the picture, which works for me. You be good kids, now!" With an exaggerated farewell wave, Xigbar disappeared in a swirl of Darkness.

Silence fell over the Colored Room for a long while. Finally, Riku stood up from his chair, since he'd been too shocked to stand when Xigbar appeared. "Let's go, Lambda. Xigbar was right about one thing; we still have to keep Sora safe." Riku formed a Dark Corridor to Port Royal.

Lambda stood up to follow him. "What will we do about Kingdom Hearts?"

"We have plenty of time before it's done, and it may not be a problem at all. Xehanort's Heartless actually completed a Kingdom Hearts from the hearts of worlds, but it didn't give him any godly powers. It just blew him up with the Light he claimed it didn't have. So, Xigbar, since I know you're listening, you can relay to your boss that his plan is doomed to fail! Lambda, are you ready to go? We're late for the first round of hide-and-seek."

Lambda turned to Namine first. "Namine, are you staying here? We kind of blew your cover again."

Namine hesitated. "I'd like to come with you, if it's okay. I want to help stop Xemnas. I'm not sure what I can do, but I still want to try. I think I'd be good at hide and seek, too. I had to hide from the Organization in Castle Oblivion, and keep from being noticed at all by Larxene while I was their captive."

Riku extended his hand. "Well, Namine, welcome aboard. We'd be happy to have you along!"

Namine shook Riku's hand, smiling wider than she had in months. "Thank you so much! I hope I can make it up to you someday!"

Lambda laughed. "Would you like to keep score? Riku and I are already in the middle of a niceness competition, but you can probably catch up; we're tied at three points each right now."

Namine giggled into her hand. "No, thanks. I'm not much for competition."

Riku stared at Namine for a moment. That gesture was something Kairi did all the time, and Kairi had said those exact words on multiple occasions when she was invited to spar with the other kids on the Islands. "Maybe you're more like Kairi than I thought...but that's enough standing around. Let's check out Port Royal!" Riku took Lambda's hand. Lambda took Namine's hand in turn, as she walked slightly ahead of the newest member of their group through the Dark Corridor.

 **VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

 _A/N: I take it back; this took way too long again._

 _The score for Lambda and Riku's niceness competition is actually being kept as a text file on my computer (alongside the finished parts of Silver Linings), by the way._

 _I think I've finally come up with a portmanteau shipping name for these two: "Riku-11". Do you like it? Do you hate it? Do you want to claw out your own eyes when you read weird names for pairings like that? Tell me in a review!_


	20. This World is Kinda Different

**Silver Linings**

 **Chapter 20: "This World Is Kinda Different..."**

 _A/N: Blank-page anxiety is my arch-nemesis. On the other hand, this is the 20th chapter milestone!_

 **VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

 _Port Royal: Harbor..._

Riku pulled the rest of his newly-expanded party out of the Dark Corridor by their linked hands, working against some resistance as the Darkness tried to separate the group. "It looks like I wasn't just being paranoid about getting separated. Now, where are we...?" They all looked around and took in this new world.

The Darkness had responded to Riku's desire to remain unseen by depositing him and his friends on the roof of a stone building. The familiar scent of a harbor hit Riku's nose for the first time in far too long, but this place was certainly no Destiny Islands. The overpowering odor of fish covered an undercurrent of trash and gunpowder, smells which Riku associated with Captain Hook and his pirate crew.

Lambda looked around, trying to place what made this world feel so different from the others she had seen. "This world feels darker than the rest..."

"Beast's Castle was very dark," Namine pointed out.

Riku added, "That was a gloomy sort of darkness. This place feels gritty and edgy, like trouble is just waiting to happen. I wonder if this world has any pirates like Captain Hook and his crew."

A rough guffaw carried upward to the world-travelers, cutting the conversation short. A quick peek over the edge told them that the laugh came from Pete! "Aztec treasure, eh? Sounds impressive!"

Captain Hook would probably wet his polka-dotted underwear if he had to fight the group of ne'er-do-well sailors currently gathered beneath the roof. They were smelly, scarred, tanned, mean, and armed to the teeth. On top of that, they had a menacing aura around them that Riku could tell was magical in nature. Pete was standing beside and talking to the most imposing pirate of them all, a tall man in a wide-brimmed hat and (slightly) more complete attire than the others. The lesser pirates stood around restlessly, presumably waiting for orders.

The pirate captain replied, "Aye, and thanks to the curse put on it, we are neither among the living nor the dead."

Pete didn't seem convinced, but he didn't fully dismiss the claims of a curse. "Reeeally...? 'Cause ya look like regular pirates to me!"

"Ah, but in the moonlight..." Right on cue, the full moon broke through a bank of dreary clouds overhead, illuminating the area with moonlight bright enough to cast shadows.

"Whoa! Now I see what you were sayin'!" Riku was just as impressed as Pete by the extent of the curse.

As soon as the moonlight fell on them, the pirates seemed to waver for an instant. The army of seafaring men was replaced by an army of skeletons; some of them had bits of decayed flesh still clinging to their bones. However, this shift didn't change the way they moved or the captain's voice. "Y'see, the moonlight reveals us for what we really are. I thank ye for the aid of the Heartless, Pete, but I don't think we've much to fear here."

"Sure, you can handle the people on this world, but if you see two doofuses who look kinda like me and a brat holdin' a Keyblade, steer clear! They got a kind of magic that don't belong in this world, see? And nobody knows what it'll do to ya, 'specially when the moon's showin' what you really are. Be careful, y'hear? I'm almost positive they'll be here soon; no matter what world I visit, I can hardly even start schemin' before they show up to shut me down! And no matter what I try, they always seem to end up sending me packin'! Make sure they don't do likewise to you!" Another cloud covered the moon, restoring the pirates' illusion of humanity.

"A match for Barbossa, ye say?" Far from being intimidated by Pete's claims, the pirate Captain Barbossa seemed to relish the possible challenge.

So of course, Sora, Donald, and Goofy charged down the ramparts of the town wall at that very moment, barging into the clearing with Pete and the cursed pirates. Pete threw his hands up in exasperation. "I knew it! See, those are the punks I was tellin' ya about!"

Sora corrected,"We're not punks! It's Sora, Donald, and Goofy to you! And don't you forget it!" He readied his Keyblade.

Barbossa grinned savagely. "That we won't. And we'll engrave it on yer tombstone, to be sure."

"Whoa! I like your style!" Pete could learn a thing or two about villainy from this guy.

Barbossa raised his voice, shouting orders to his crew. "Men! Half of you stay here and indulge these cullies! The rest - bring me that medallion!"

" _Aye!_ " The pirates separated into two groups as ordered. Out of six pirates, three ran toward the town, which was already gripped by mayhem and fire due to some of Barbossa's other pirates. The remaining three axe-wielding pirates charged at Sora. Barbossa returned to the ship with a smug swagger to his step, clearly expecting that this would be the last he'd hear of Sora, Donald, and Goofy. Pete, however, remained behind on the dock and set up a Dark Barrier, to safely see for himself whether Barbossa's pirates were as tough as the undead captain claimed.

Sora put up a good showing, but it seemed like it wouldn't be enough. His swordsmanship was far superior to all of the pirates, but whenever his Keyblade struck their bronzed skin, it passed straight through them like a mirage. The pirate's axes were painfully real, however. "What gives? We can't beat them!"

One of the pirates taunted, "Aye, what did ye expect?" He swung his two axes consecutively in a three-hit combo. Sora flowed around the hits and struck back during the same opening the pirate always revealed, but the clean hit did no damage. Sora backed away from the pirates to try and figure out the trick to this battle. The pirates had to have a weakness, right?

Luckily, the cloud covering the moon finally moved on. The moonlight revealed the pirates' undead nature, momentarily shocking Sora and his friends. The aggressive pirate who taunted earlier tried to use the moment of surprise to attack Sora, and _almost_ managed to land a hit. "You'd best be sayin' yer prayers!"

Riku was watching the tense battle, and was about to jump in (though he didn't have a real plan), but before he could, Pete called out to the pirates, "Watch out! They can see ya! Stay away from their magic!"

"What for?" The pirates were used to being threatened; nothing in the world had been able to kill them, and plenty of things had tried.

"Weren't ya listening to me before?!"

Sora called out, "Hey, Pete, thanks for the tip!" He had just revealed the pirate's weakness!

"D'oh!" Pete fled toward Barbossa's intimidating pirate ship before he could inadvertently ruin anything else.

Sora knocked the aggressive pirate away, relieved and satisfied that his attacks could actually connect while the pirates' true appearances were visible. Sora had another trick he wanted to try, though. "Hey, Donald, want to give that new Wisdom Form a shot?"

"Do I?" Donald rhetorically replied.

Goofy clarified, "He does."

"Great! Let's go, Donald!" Sora released the power of his Drive ability and linked to Donald, activating Wisdom Form. After the flash of light faded (leaving the pirates to pick themselves up off the dirt), Sora's outfit had a blue color scheme. He didn't have a second Keyblade in this form, but he could feel his expanded mana swirling around him, practically lifting him off the ground. It took a second for everyone watching to realize that Sora was actually floating just an inch or so in the air, but he quickly got the hang of moving by riding the mana currents. It looked and felt like riding a skateboard...but cooler!

Sora closed the distance with the pirate who had attacked him the most often. The other two skeletons had been idle until now; at first it was laziness and contempt for their apparently-weak foe that held them back, but now the pirates were also wary of the danger.

When Sora swung his Keyblade at the enthusiastic-but-stupid one, it was hard to tell whether the Keyblade wielder or his foe was more surprised at the small, blue bullet of magic that fired from the weapon's tip. Sora's surprise turned to satisfaction in short order, as he made a quick dash over the ground to gain some distance (making sure to remember that instinctively-used maneuver for later) and began using the Keyblade as a projectile weapon. A storm of blue bullets battered the pirate, who found that his axes could not block them.

However, even a full volley of more than twenty Wisdom Shots didn't do significant damage, so Sora switched to casting Blizzara. This form brought out Donald's power, and the duck's greatest talent had always been in spellcasting over weapon-based combat. A chunk of ice launched from the Keyblade and struck the already-staggered pirate, ripping his bones apart. Was he dead?

The Blizzara spell (Sora had grown strong enough during this journey to use the second-tier spells) cut right through the defeated pirate and struck one of his partners, who was frozen solid. From a safe distance, Goofy noted, "Huh, that spell doesn't usually freeze people. Sora, try some other spells! The pirates are weaker to magic than any Heartless we've seen!"

Sora grinned and closed in on the frozen pirate with another Quick Run, then cast Fira at the immobilized henchman. The ice coating the pirate instantly burst into steam, but the skeleton's humiliation was far from over - now his ragged pants were on fire! The pirate ran around wildly, ignoring everything around him as he tried to flee from his own butt.

Sora almost pitied him. Almost. He shot another Blizzara spell that put the pirate grunt out of his misery.

The last surviving pirate was mentally torn between dying in a fight with a seemingly puny kid, or fleeing to be subjected to the eternal scorn of Captain Barbossa. He didn't have long to debate with himself before a Thundara spell dropped on his head, subjecting him to a sustained electric current that numbed his body and brain. He was left vulnerable to another three Blizzard spells, the last of which fired five chunks of ice rather than one! Only the first two blasts were actually necessary; the last shot was a test.

After that barrage of spells, Sora finally ran out of mana, and ran out of Drive power at about the same time. Sora's clothes returned to normal, his huge shoes settled back on the ground, and Donald reappeared by his side in a brief flash of light. After he and Donald caught their breath, he cheered "We beat 'em! That was awesome!" Donald and Sora exchanged a high-five.

Goofy cut in, "But what about those other guys? We should probably see if the townspeople need help."

"Oh, shoot, you're right! C'mon, guys!" With barely a pause to see that Donald and Goofy were indeed following him, Sora went looking for trouble in the town of Port Royal.

Riku watched him go, still impressed by Sora's transformation and the abilities it offered him. "Lambda, what do you make of that 'Wisdom Form' thing he did?"

"Analyzing... unknown power-boosting mode is similar in concept to a Drive ability. A Drive is a powerful ability that people can sometimes manifest if they're exposed to too much seithr. The nature of a person's Drive is usually based on their personality, and its power is dependent on the strength of their soul's connection to the Azure. I guess it would make sense that Sora's Drive lets him draw strength from his friends, but I don't think he needed to breathe in seithr to be able to do that. Now I'm curious..."

Namine spoke up, momentarily surprising Riku. He was still used to Lambda being the only one to talk to during their travels. "Let's follow him. If you want, I can try to find out how he got that power by looking through his memories, but either way, we shouldn't lose sight of him."

Lambda looked at Namine quizzically. "Are you sure you should be casually rooting through Sora's memories?"

Namine hesitated, clutching her sketchbook tightly to her chest, but kept a firm expression when she faced Lambda to reply. "No, I'm not sure of that at all, but I have to try and do _something_ with my power over memories. I'm not a monster - or so you keep telling me - but if I can't find a benign use for this power, I'll never be able to think of myself as anything but a danger to the worlds. I don't have to change anything if I just take a look, and he didn't notice the effects back in Castle Oblivion, even when I was actually rearranging his memories. All that would happen is we might learn a few things."

Riku's jaw dropped. "Sora couldn't feel it when his heart was being rearranged? That's...actually really scary."

Namine laughed, but there was more pain than mirth to the sound. "That's nothing compared to what happened to the Riku Replica... There has to be a way to use my power without misusing it, but reading memories is the safest thing I've tried up until now."

That was when Lambda remembered what they came here to do. "Tracking current targets... Distance to targets is 50 meters and increasing. We should probably finish this conversation while we're on the move."

Riku nodded and led the way deeper into the town.

 **VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

 _Port Royal: Town..._

Namine tried her best to keep up with the others, but it was clear that she simply couldn't move that fast, especially when Riku jumped from one roof to the next. Lambda made the same jump as easily as walking, but Namine was left awkwardly standing alone. "Riku? Lambda...?" She wanted to call out and get their attention, but they were trying to be stealthy, right?

This place was dangerous, though. All Namine had for protection was her sketchbook. Luckily, she hadn't been entirely idle while setting up her Colored Rooms. She had returned to Castle Oblivion to pick up something Marluxia had left behind, and that _something_ was hidden as a bookmark in her sketchbook.

A group of Heartless appeared to attack the lone, apparently defenseless Nobody. Five Shadows and three Air Pirates... Namine quickly worked out the angles of attack needed to wipe them all out before she might run out of moves. As the Shadows moved in to pounce, she opened her sketchbook and pulled out a flat, black object, like an oversized version of the cards from Castle Oblivion.

"Thundara!" Namine cast one of her stored Spell Panels and jumped away from the place the Shadows would land. She stumbled as she touched down, but the Shadows were caught in a localized lightning storm that ripped them apart. Two of the Air Pirates continued to circle their prey, but the third one moved in for an uppercut.

"Firaga!" Namine lobbed a fireball that arced upward to meet the diving Heartless. The Firaga spell exploded on impact, destroying its target.

The other two Heartless fled, not wanting to fight such an unexpectedly dangerous opponent, especially when they could not smell a heart to steal within her.

Namine was left alone on the rooftop once more. Her battle hadn't attracted much attention, actually, given the ongoing raid by the undead pirates and the other packs of Heartless hunting in the streets below. "That was close..." The memory witch checked her Panels, determining that she had two more casts of Thundara, no more Firagas, two Blizzagas, and six Cures left for today. She couldn't handle another group of Heartless with just that meager number of attacks. What should she do if Riku and Lambda didn't come back for her?

Namine needn't have worried; her allies leapt back to her moments after she finished taking that self-inventory. As she approached, Lambda cried out, "Namine, are you okay?"

"Sorry about leaving you behind," Riku added sheepishly. "I should have thought of that."

Namine smiled gratefully. "No, thank you for coming back. Don't worry about me. I'm not _completely_ helpless. See this?" She held up the black card. "This is a Panel Grid. The Organization uses them to store individual uses of spells. Nobodies can't use the World's raw mana, so Vexen created the Panel system as a limited replacement to boost the power of each Organization member. By installing the right Panels, I can increase my magical resistances and cast a few spells outside my base element, which is especially important for me, since my base element isn't a natural fit for combat."

Lambda inspected the Panel Grid. "Wow, neat! I guess there are rules to where you can place Panels, though?"

Namine nodded. "Yes. Some Panels take up multiple slots and only accept certain other Panels into the extra spaces, but those compatible Panels are more powerful when linked to the main one. It's a matter of making the best use of the available space, which is why new members of the Organization have most of the slots on their Panel Grid locked when they first join. It gives them an incentive to do well at their missions, and also keeps them too weak to be a real threat until the Organization can be relatively sure of their loyalty."

Lambda noticed an inconsistency in that explanation. "But they never trusted you, right? Why are all of your slots unlocked?"

Namine almost smirked, which looked out of place on her face. "This is actually Marluxia's old Panel Grid. It was left behind when Sora eliminated him, and I thought it would be ironically appropriate to defend myself with the power of my old captor. I guess Marluxia spent a lot of time making sure the Organization would trust him before trying to betray them. I don't why he betrayed them in the first place, though..."

Riku cut in. "There's no point thinking about it now. Anyway, can you two finish geeking out over that system later? Sora's about to leave port."

Lambda did a double-take. "He's following the pirates by ship? How will we follow him out at sea? ...I resent your implication that geeks aren't as important as other people, by the way. If it wasn't for Vexen's geekiness, Namine would have been dead before we noticed she was missing."

Riku grinned. "Sorry, couldn't resist. It's been so long since the days when I could have fun teasing Sora on the Islands."

Namine asked, "How are we going to keep up with Sora? I can't even keep up with you, so even if you can fly after that ship, I'd be stuck."

"I can carry you, Namine," Lambda replied. "Summoning Lux Sanctus. IDEA Engine linked. Murakumo, activate!" Lambda's armor formed, and she positioned her Petal blades right next to each other, floating horizontally behind her back. They formed a platform large enough for Namine to sit on. "You can sit here. Just be sure to keep your legs away from the bladed side of the platform."

"Nice thinking, Lambda! Now let's go; we have a boat to catch." Riku took off, motioning for Lambda to follow. Namine climbed onto the makeshift platform, which adjusted its formation to be more comfortable than just flat metal.

 **VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

 _Port Royal: High Seas..._

Riku's group flew low over the water to avoid being detected, just in case. It wouldn't do to for a group of flying teenagers to be spotted by Sora's new pirate allies. The captain mostly kept his eyes on a compass, but the other man occasionally searched the surrounding waters with a spyglass, on the lookout for pirates or Heartless.

The boat itself had the name _Interceptor_ on the hull, and moved quickly for a sailboat. It was hard for Riku to tell, but it seemed like Donald was using his magic to perform various tasks on the ship, compensating for the _Interceptor_ 's severe lack of crew members. Five people would be hard-pressed to run such a vessel at any reasonable speed, and only the two natives of this world had any sailing experience.

"Being the only one who can run the ship must be good for Donald's self-esteem," Namine thought aloud. "He's gotten Sora's party in a lot of trouble on their journeys."

"Let me guess - he wanted to change the past during whatever mess happened at Disney Castle?" Riku had a rather low opinion of Donald ever since he refused to let Riku join Sora's previous journey for seemingly no reason. Sure, there were too few seats on the Gummi Ship, but he could have at least said so.

Donald Duck was defined by poor communication skills, a bad temper, and a prominent greedy streak. However, Riku had to admit Donald was an invaluable ally at times like this, and he would pull through for his friends when it counted. Usually. He'd also found dozens of hidden treasures lying around in the various worlds Sora had visited, ensuring the party never ran out of healing items.

"Where are they headed?" Lambda wondered. "My long-range scans don't show any islands in that direction."

Riku sniffed the air. "I can smell a powerful magic field out there. That's probably why the captain spends more time looking at his compass than the water; it's a magic item. It must be leading them to some hidden island cloaked by the spell."

"Riku, you can identify a magic item by it's scent?!" Lambda was already impressed by Riku's ability to smell Darkness, but he kept getting better!

Riku smirked confidently. "Yep, I figured it out while Sora was fighting the pirates, which positively reek of magic. I'm actually glad they stink so much, because they won't get past me if... They're attacking the ship!" He pointed out three cursed pirates as they appeared in puffs of smoke, clinging to the hull of the _Interceptor_. The smoke was similar to Pete's teleportation. The pirates clambered onto the deck and attacked, but Sora and his friends handily defeated the intruders.

Lambda reported, "Pete teleported them in; he must be helping Barbossa shake off Sora's pursuit. How did Barbossa know he was being followed?"

Riku shrugged. "I don't know what they said. Maybe I should work on supernatural hearing next."

Namine hummed under her breath for a second, then spoke up. "It's not Sora he's worried about; it's Sora's new friend, Jack Sparrow. Jack used to be the captain of those pirates, but Barbossa led a mutiny and stole Jack's ship, the _Black Pearl_ , which we're chasing now."

"How did you know that?" Lambda asked.

"I read Sora's memories from the last twenty minutes. See? It's a perfectly safe use of my power. Besides, I already know all his dirty secrets from the mess at Castle Oblivion, and none of them would make good blackmail material. The worst crime he ever committed was forgetting to do his laundry."

Lambda pointed out, "Who said anything about blackmail?"

Namine replied, "Marluxia did. He and Larxene came up with a lot of ways my power could be used for evil. It's good to know what to avoid, but..."

Riku interrupted her. "Hey, there's an island up ahead!"

 **VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

 _Isle de Muerta: Rock Face..._

The island in question was a lump of cold, gray stone that jutted out of a persistent mist hanging over the water. The curvature of the island made an effective natural harbor, but the _Black Pearl_ was already docked there, so the _Interceptor_ docked at a cliff on the other side of the island to avoid detection. Jack and Will (Sora's other new friend) left the ship to sneak into the island's network of caves after convincing Sora to stay behind. Riku was not impressed; he muttered under his breath, "Sora, how did you fall for that trick...?"

After about twenty minutes, Sora and Co. got bored. They left the ship to explore the island on their own, still unaware of Riku's group hiding in the _Interceptor_ 's rigging.

"I think they'll run into some trouble in those caves," Lambda guessed.

"Only one way to find out!" Riku led the way toward the cave, but Lambda stopped him.

"Shouldn't we follow them a little less directly? There are lots of holes in the walls all the way through that cave, which let in moonlight and would be great places to spy from."

"Good idea, Lambda. Let's get some height." The party rose higher into the air and passed over the island from above.

 **VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

 _Isle de Muerta: Mesa..._

Riku swooped over the top of the island, which resembled a spooky, stone sponge due to all the holes in the top and sides. A commotion could be heard rising up from the largest natural skylight right in the center of the island.

Barbossa's voice boomed louder than all the rest... "After them! The maid is worthless now, but I need that medallion!"

Namine guessed, "It sounds like Will and Jack succeeded. They didn't need Sora for this part."

Lambda scanned the lifeforms being chased back through the caves, but noticed something off. "Twelve targets detected. Ten targets identified as cursed pirates. But that means only two people escaped. And if one of them is the lady Will wanted to save, then either Will or Jack was left behind."

On a hunch, Riku asked, "Who's still in the center room?"

Lambda shook her head. "Sorry, I can't really identify them directly from here, but there are two people inside. One is probably Barbossa. We might be able to save Sora's other friend while Barbossa is distracted."

"Good idea!" Riku swooped over the skylight and looked down, seeing Barbossa glaring in agitation at the entrance the pirates left through.

"Careful not to cast a shadow down there," Namine whispered. "The pirates are bound to be hyper-aware of the shadows to avoid moonlight."

Too late; Riku's shadow already passed over Barbossa, restoring his illusion of humanity for a split second. The pirate was instantly alerted to the presence of a large object in the sky. "Who's there?! Show yourself!"

Riku groaned. "Well, shoot. Now what? We don't have any Keyblades, so we can't beat him directly."

"Maybe my magic would work?" Namine suggested. She was suddenly forced to grip the blunt side of Lambda's platform tightly - the Prime Field Device swerved around a bullet from Barbossa's pistol. Luckily, Barbossa heavily telegraphed his intentions before shooting.

Lambda tried to give Namine a better view. "It's worth a try! Can you hit him from here?"

In response, Namine cast, "Thundara! One of those has to hit." Sure enough, three of the lightning bolts landed squarely on Barbossa's head. He was more resilient than his lackeys by leaps and bounds, but he was affected uniquely by magic. The electric energy set him vibrating straight up into the air, where he was held suspended in midair for a few seconds - long enough for Riku and Co. to retreat.

 **VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

 _Port Royal: High Seas..._

Riku sighed heavily as the group sped back toward the _Interceptor_. "Well, that was a disaster. We couldn't save the other guy, Barbossa knows we're here, and Namine is probably low on spells now."

"I have one Thundara, two Blizzagas, and six Cures left," Namine reported.

"Hey, the ship's leaving!" Lambda pointed ahead of them. The _Interceptor_ was on the move, with Sora, Donald, Goofy, Will, and Elizabeth aboard. "I guess the one they lost was Jack."

"Barbossa's crew won't let Will get away with his gold, either; at least we'll get to see some interesting naval combat?" Namine was grasping at straws.

"Maybe if we watch from really high up. If they get boarded, we can't risk casting a shadow on the deck and messing up Sora's battle." Riku moved upward until the two ships now engaged in a high-seas chase looked like toy models. For about five minutes, sparks from clashing weapons and flashes of cannon fire burst over the _Interceptor_ , but it seemed that against all odds, Sora was winning his fight.

"Lambda, do you have some way to hear what's going on down there?" Namine wondered.

"Huh? Oh, right. You can't hear that far away. I'll send it to my internal speaker..."

The speaker in Lambda's neck crackled to life, then emitted Barbossa's voice. "Go on, boy, shoot! We can't die!"

Will's voice responded, "You can't...but I can! My name is William Turner! My father was Bootstrap Bill Turner! His blood runs in my veins!"

"Aye?!" Barbossa yelped.

"On my word, do as I say! Or I'll pull this trigger and be lost to Davy Jones' locker!"

Namine whispered, "Oh! If they can't get Will's blood, the curse will never be broken."

Barbossa sounded defeated. "Name you terms...Mr. Turner."

"Release Elizabeth! And Sora, Donald, and Goofy, too!"

"Anything else?"

Some muffled grunting seemed to suggest Barbossa had another captive whom Will hadn't named, but Will's final demand was, "Leave...now!"

Riku's group could hear the smirk in Barbossa's voice. "Agreed. Leave we shall...but the Heartless stay!"

A wooden _thunk_ came through the speakers, followed by a familiar guffaw.

"Thank ye for the aid, Pete. Men! Set up powder kegs and bring Mr. Turner to our brig! Tie up the rest of Will's pallies...and Jack. Have them sink with the ship!"

"Heartless squad! Yer in charge of blowin' up the barrels!" Pete's voice hollered. Some nasty laughter was heard, and then Lambda cut off the audio feed.

"That is NOT good. We don't have time to stay incognito!" Riku dove down to the deck, aiming for an Air Pirate that was fiddling with a red barrel, but he suddenly reversed course and shot skyward again, dragging Lambda with him - Sora, Donald, Goofy, and Jack were already charging out of the _Interceptor_ 's cabin, unharmed and definitely not tied up. Sora's party made short work of the Heartless and tossed the burning barrels overboard, resolving their immediate crisis in less than a minute.

Lambda watched the spectacle with bemusement. "I guess we should have a bit more faith in Sora's friends..."

Riku sighed. "We really can't help anything here. Show of hands: who wants to grab a bite to eat in Twilight Town?" Nobody raised their hand, not even Riku himself.

"I think we should find Mickey," Namine suggested.

Instead of voting, Lambda reported, "Time Break detected. Location...blocked by interference. It must be back on that island."

"Okay, new plan. Let's go back there to tell Mickey about it." Riku led the flight back to Isle de Muerta.

 **VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

 _Isle de Muerta: Rock Face..._

It only took a minute to reach the island again, even though the _Interceptor_ had almost reached Port Royal before the _Black Pearl_ caught up. Lambda commented on this as the group swooped in for a landing. "Even though it's an open ocean, the travel distance to get here is really short. I guess this world is still as small as the others."

The group had made it back before the _Interceptor_ , which gave them a few minutes to deal with the Time Break before Sora showed up. It would have been relatively straightforward if someone hadn't already crossed the rift.

"Tao's all confused, meow. Where did all the buildings go? There's all this water and...ooh, ooh! Tao smells fish!" The girl speaking in the third person had her face obscured by a hooded, tan coat with stylized cat ears and a hole for a thin cat tail to emerge, but her coat didn't reach the ground like the Black Coats Riku knew...and Tao didn't seem to be wearing any pants with it. Her coat reached just far enough to obscure the important parts, and she didn't seem to care beyond that.

Her face was shrouded in black, but some features could be seen. Whether through magic or really strange anatomy, the person under the hood resembled a cartoon smiley face with really sharp teeth. She wasn't intimidating in the slightest, however. She was about to stumble into the ocean with a puddle of drool falling from her lip, but jumped back with incredible reflexes when Riku's group landed in front of her.

Tao put on her most obvious suspicious expression. "Hey, who are you people, showing up out of meowhere? Wait a minute... Flappy-flap, is that you? Tao thought you died! Is Tail Lady going to say hi to Tao, too? Tail Lady never gave me that endless bowl of rice she promised, meow!"

"Lambda, do you know this girl?" Riku asked.

"Not a clue. I'm just as lost as you are, dear."

The cat-girl, who was probably named Tao, leaned in way too close for comfort and sniffed at Lambda. To top it off, she actually said, "Sniff, sniff!"

Tao suddenly jumped back with a guilty smile. "Oops! Sorry about the mix-up, meow! Tao thought you were someone Tao met in Kanya...spooky...the place above Kaka Village, meow! But you don't smell like Flappy-flap, so you must not be her. You're her hissing image, though! Pretty spooky, meow!"

Lambda retreated into facts to try and find her footing in this conversation. "Cross-referencing... Do you mean Kagutsuchi? Since you know the name of the Kaka Village better than Kagutsuchi, you must be a member of the Kaka Clan...meaning your full name is Taokaka."

"Wow, that's absolutely right, Other Flappy! Super vigilante Taokaka at your service, meow! You're really super-smart!" Tao suddenly lunged straight at Lambda, landing her closed-off, paw-themed sleeves right on Lambda's chest. "Mew-hoo-hoo, and super-chesty, too! Tao forgot to check Flappy-flap last time, and boy was Tao missing out!"

Lambda was stunned into inaction by Taokaka's...forwardness. Riku had no such problem, however...after he got over the split second in which he'd seen Tao's red panties under her coat during the glomp. "Hey, get your hands off my girlfriend! ...Paws, whatever." He flash-stepped forward and yanked Tao away from Lambda as fast as possible, ending the groping session.

Tao whined, "Why'd you do that, coat-wearing person? You ruined Tao's fun, meow! Tao's gonna call you Not-Fun Guy! Hiss!"

"Wait, you seriously don't see anything wrong with your behavior just now?" Namine asked.

"Oh, Tao didn't see you there! Sniff...you smell like crayons, meow! Tao will call you Art Girl!"

Namine retreated from the conversation, mumbling, "It could be worse, I suppose...I could have been branded 'White Girl.'"

Tao actually heard her, but seemed confused. "Tao doesn't have any brandy, meow. The chieftain always says Tao shouldn't drink brandy or other meow-coholic bevera-hiss until Tao gets older."

Namine decided to drop the subject in favor of business. "Never mind. Anyway, you have to go back through the Time Break behind you right now, before something bad happens."

"What bad thing could happen, mew?" Tao turned around to look where Namine pointed, and her tail stood straight out in surprise. "Hiss! It got bigger all of a sudden! That's no good! And Tao bets that Good Guy got himself hurt again while Tao was lost! Tao's gotta go find Good Guy! Have a nice night, Other Flappy, Not-Fun Guy, Art Girl! Bye neow!" And without any further explanation, Tao bounded back through the Time Break on all fours.

Riku stared at the rift, still wondering what the heck just happened. "Well...that was..."

"A pointless disaster, that's what that was. We've got to get going; the _Interceptor_ is almost here! Sora can handle the Time Break." Lambda spoke more impatiently than usual, which confused Riku for a moment until he remembered Tao's last...interaction with his girlfriend. It occurred to him that he'd only ever shared quick kisses with his girlfriend. Maybe he shouldn't be _that_ forward, but...

Riku cut that line of thought off like a Zantetsuken - they were in the wrong time, the wrong place, and the wrong mood. He didn't trust himself to say anything, so he just prepared to open a Dark Corridor, looking to the girls for a destination.

As they joined hands for the trip, Namine noted, "It's not often that anyone would end up trying two plans because the _first_ plan was better...but let's grab a bite to eat in Twilight Town." Everyone agreed; Riku formed the portal.

"Not Sea-Salt Ice Cream this time, please?" Lambda requested. "Brain freeze is the last thing I need today." Riku managed to keep the chuckles down as he led the group through the Dark Corridor.

 **VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

 _A/N: So...slow...! I'm sorry!_


	21. When You Want Something, Act!

**Silver Linings**

 **Chapter 21: "When You Want Something, Act!"**

 _A/N: Now that Kingdom Hearts Online is complete and posted (check it out!), I can focus all my time on this. All my writing time, anyway, which has to be split with my search for a job, chores, and other things I like to do. Luckily, FierceDeityMask will probably continue reminding me to work on this._

 **VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

 _The World That Never Was: Alley To Between..._

Riku pulled everyone out of the Dark Corridor, but when he looked around, he certainly didn't see Twilight Town.

"Wait, isn't this the Organization's stronghold? Why are we here?" Lambda asked.

"Did some event pull us off course?" Namine wondered.

"Well, now's as good a time as any to do some scouting," Riku decided. "Lambda, are there any Organization XIII members nearby?"

"Scanning...2 targets found. Axel detected. Xigbar detected."

Namine gulped. "Didn't Xigbar tell us we were off the hook _unless_ we came here?"

Lambda ran through their options. "...He won't be able to threaten us if we terminate him. Just a suggestion."

Riku considered it. "Maybe, but let's try and resolve this without bringing the whole Organization down on our heads. Still, Axel must be up to something."

Axel was just around the corner, mumbling something. Lambda amplified her hearing and replayed it for the other two: "Roxas went back to Sora...his choice, can't mess with it...or can I? How would I even get him back? Wait, Nobodies are made from people turning into Heartless...the Heartless can't beat Sora, so that leaves making him give in to the Darkness... What could make him do that? That's it! I've got it! Hold on, Roxas, I'm coming!"

Alarmed, Riku charged around the corner, only to see Axel vanish through a Dark Corridor. Riku tried to track the wisps of Darkness, but was distracted by a yellowish dog bonking into his leg. "Wait, you're Mickey's dog, right?"

"His name's Pluto," Namine informed him. "Maybe Pluto can track Kairi down before Axel does something unforgivable. Can you do that, Pluto? Go fetch Kairi!" Namine formed a Dark Corridor of her own, and Pluto immediately perked up. Barking excitedly, the dog bounced through the portal with no hesitation.

Namine formed another Dark Corridor. "This one will _really_ get us to Twilight Town. We'll get Pluto to lead Kairi there; we can't bring her here."

Lambda grinned. "Look at you taking charge, Namine! Feeling better?"

"Feeling urgent. C'mon, let's go! There's not much time!" Namine grabbed both Riku and Lambda, and somehow managed to drag both of them behind her through the Dark Corridor.

 **VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

 _Destiny Islands: Kairi's perspective..._

Kairi had sent that bottled letter, but hadn't received a reply from Sora, or any indication that Sora was even out there. However, all her memories of him had returned shortly after she sent it, all at once. And not just for her; everyone on the Islands knew everyone else, so when everyone got their memories of Sora back simultaneously, it couldn't be dismissed as Kairi talking crazy anymore. There were rumors flying around school, but while most people missed Sora (and the rumor mill about Riku had also been rekindled), none of them were taking action to bring the boys home, and they still didn't believe Kairi when she spoke of other worlds.

Kairi had waited too long; her heart cried out at her to go find Sora and fix whatever problem was keeping him away. After all, he still had her good luck charm!

But how could she find him? Her feet led her to the beach, but then she stopped, unsure of the next step to take. "Maybe...waiting isn't good enough."

" _My thoughts exactly._ " A man's voice came from nowhere, but the speaker's smirk was audible even before Kairi saw him. A Dark Corridor like the ones Maleficent's gang used, and a black coat-wearing man with really, _really_ red hair stepped out. At the same time, several white, four vaguely humanoid creatures seemed to drop out of the sky, surrounding Kairi with menacing claws. "If you want something, don't wait. Act! That's one of life's little rules. Got it memorized?"

"Who are you?" Kairi wondered. As dangerous as the situation was, it could give her a way to find Sora, so Kairi found herself less frightened than she probably should be.

"The name's Axel, formerly of Organization XIII. And you're Kairi, the seventh Princess of Heart, and the one person Sora cares about more than anyone else. What do you know, we're on a first name basis already! And there's one other thing we have in common, Kairi." Axel's monsters kept their menacing posture, but didn't get any closer yet.

"What's that?"

"You and I both miss someone we care about. It almost feels like we're friends already!"

The _Nobodies_ started moving closer, but before Kairi could even wonder where that name came from, a second Dark Corridor opened nearby. A yellow dog jumped out; his features reminded Kairi of Goofy, one of the two friends who stuck with Sora while he was looking for her. The dog barked repeatedly and motioned for Kairi to follow him through the new portal. Kairi barely even hesitated long enough to toss a one-liner at Axel. "You're not acting very friendly!" She ran into the Corridor and vanished.

 **VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

 _Betwixt and Between_...

The origin point of this Dark Corridor had been severed, but not the exit, so going back through the one-sided portal landed Kairi and the dog in a sort of subspace within the Realm of Darkness. Multiple copies of the emblem that had been branded on the heads of the _Dusks_ floated around them, marking an otherwise invisible boundary. It seemed Axel's group held sway over this dimension, meaning it wasn't safe to stay here for long.

A whistling sound preceded the formation of yet another portal, though this one shined with pinkish-gold Light that reminded Kairi of a sunset. Another man in a Black Coat stood halfway in the portal; his hood covered his face in shadows, but his sleeves were different from Axel's, and Kairi's instincts told her this man meant her no harm. She ran to him and took his hand, just as yet _another_ Black Coat guy showed up, this one with long, unkempt blue hair and an aura of dangerous intent that surpassed Axel's. He never got a chance to announce his intentions, though, because the bright portal closed around Kairi, the dog, and the hooded man, pulling them into another world.

 **VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

 _Twilight Town: The Usual Spot..._

The force necessary to yank Kairi out of the Realm of Darkness was a bit more than Riku expected; he accidentally hurled the Princess into a wall and briefly knocked her unconscious, which gave Riku the time he needed to flee the area. He couldn't risk Kairi seeing Ansem's face - er, Xehanort's...whatever. Kairi would be fine staying with the Usual Suspects for now.

 **VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

 _Twilight Town: Station Plaza..._

Riku appeared at the top of the tower next to Lambda and Namine. "I left Kairi and Pluto with the Usual Suspects. I'm a little worried about pursuit, though. There was a blue-haired Organization member in that 'between' space, and I'm sure Xigbar saw that whole thing."

" _Sure did!_ " Speak of the devil, and he shall appear. In this case, Xigbar appeared standing upside-down in midair over the edge of the balcony, showing off his power over space (and therefore his power over gravity).

The Nobody sniper bared his teeth in an upside-down smirk. "You haven't been good kids. You had such simple instructions! 'Stay out of The World That Never Was and you get to live.' I guess you don't listen well, but let's see if you're better at dying!"

 **VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

 _Fend off Xigbar and escape his distorted space!_

Swiping his hands at the air, Xigbar summoned a pair of unusual ranged weapons to his hands. They were purple with a brace of pink arrow-shaped crystals along the bottom, and looked like a mix between a crossbow and a rifle. Then everything around the group shifted in an instant.

"So, what do ya think? Neat trick, huh?" Riku's team was standing in the plaza beneath the Station Tower, but several blocks of stone had vanished along with everything beneath them, leaving the group on a square platform that floated over a black abyss. "Don't bother running away or teleporting. The curvature of space will just lead you directly into my clutches, do not pass Go, do not collect 200 munny. But I won't bore you with the details any longer! Now you'll see why they call me the Freeshooter!" Xigbar fired his arrowguns, launching pink bolts of energy at Riku.

Lambda summoned Murakumo while Riku defended the group with a Dark Shield. Namine took cover behind Lambda and pulled out her sketchbook and Panel Grid.

When the arrows hit Riku's shield, they reversed course and headed straight for Xigbar, dealing minor damage. "Huh, too predictable? Then try this!" Xigbar formed two distortions at his sides and fired into them, sending arrows through that appeared on both sides of Namine. Riku and Lambda blocked the shots, sending them harmlessly into the edge of the distorted arena.

"Target threat level graded as S class. Terminating target." Lambda retaliated with some projectiles of her own, but had to bring her Petals up to block when her summoned swords flew in the wrong direction.

"Did you think you could fight _me_ by warping space to bring your attacks in? As if!" Xigbar placed one arrowgun in front of the other, joining them into a larger sniper rifle, then vanished.

"Is he gone?" Namine asked.

"Switching to Guard Mode. Target located; defending." Lambda lunged behind Namine and blocked a pink arrow that lanced down from the balcony of the Station Tower from which Xigbar was sniping them. "We can't hit him across the space barrier he's set up, but he can clearly hit us."

"Bingo! And what're you going to do about it?" Xigbar fired another round.

"Don't worry about us." Riku flickered into the path of the shot, already halfway through the motion of swinging Soul Eater to bat the projectile back at Xigbar. It slammed into the Freeshooter with enough force to stagger him, then rebounded a short distance until it simply hung in midair just inside the barrier. Riku hit the arrow back again and again, until Xigbar finally wised up and teleported back to the arena. In a sing-songy, childish voice, Riku taunted, "Stop hitting yourself! Stop hitting yourself! ...Or go ahead and keep shooting; I'll send everything right back at you!"

"Ooh, so this kid thinks he's got me all figured out? As if! I've got way more tricks than that!" Suddenly, all four combatants were packed together on a single block of land. Xigbar swung his weapons downward, causing the pink crystals to flash and turn blue.

"This reload was brought to you by the letter P, for penetrating bolts! Now, let's see how you dance!" He began spinning in place, firing wildly and spraying blue bolts all over the tiny arena. Lambda swooped Namine into a bridal carry and hovered over the barrage while Riku floated upward.

Xigbar began teleporting and firing bursts of shots from several angles, forcing the couple to dodge and weave constantly. Finally, the Freeshooter hovered in the middle of the arena, telekinetically spinning his arrowguns and firing shots into rapidly-forming distortions that sent a hail of arrows at the heroes from every imaginable direction.

The shots tracked their targets more slowly than the heroes could move, but there was barely any space to dodge, and so both Riku and Lambda got caught by the last few seconds of the barrage when they accidentally collided with each other in midair. Lambda covered Namine as well as she could, taking a few extra hits for her in the process.

Xigbar finally ran out of penetrating bolts, and returned the stage to normal size while he reloaded a clip of normal arrows. "Yeah, _now_ we're talking! What do you say to that?"

"Cure! Cure!" Namine cast two of her six Cure spells to fix the damage the bolts had managed to do to Riku and Lambda. "See, I'm not useless!"

"Yeah, unlike the sniper sitting in melee range." Riku flash-stepped right up next to Xigbar's face and brought Soul Eater down with as much force as he could muster. "Get lost and leave us alone!"

Xigbar fell off his invisible ceiling, bounced off the rearranged ground, and vanished into a Dark Corridor. Shortly after the portal evaporated away, his voice called, " _Okay, okay, you got me, you big, scary non-Keyblade heroes! But that's fine; while you were distracted, Axel got Kairi. See ya around!_ "

 **VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

 _Twilight Town: Station Plaza..._

Lambda dismissed Murakumo with a scowl. "Target lost. He was just buying time for Axel to kidnap Kairi again!"

"Should we tell Sora?" Namine asked.

Lambda tilted her head in response to an alert from her scanning protocols. "Targets acquired: 1 unknown Organization XIII member; 10 - correction: 5 - correction: zero lesser Nobodies; Sora, Donald, and Goofy detected. All targets are within ten meters of each other. No signs of combat detected. Conclusion: The Organization is already gloating about it."

"But wasn't Axel acting as a renegade? Who's the unknown member?"

" _His name's Sai'x._ " Axel's voice echoed as he stumbled out of a corridor. "Organization XIII's Number VII. Sai'x. Got it memorized?"

"You have a lot of explaining to do, Axel," Riku glowered, making full use of Ansem's intimidating face.

"I got Kairi again just a minute after you snatched her - you might as well not have bothered. I shouldn't have, either, because Sai'x caught up to me while I was dragging her and threatened to terminate me if I didn't hand her over. He would have done it, too. I can't believe I used to be friends with that guy."

"Where would he have taken her?" Lambda demanded.

"To their stronghold, of course! The Castle That Never Was. Got it memorized? They want Kairi as leverage to keep Sora on his quest, fighting Heartless and catching hearts for Xemnas. Sure, Sora will be looking for revenge or justice or whatever, but he'd never find a way to reach the castle on his own." Axel gave Riku a meaningful look. "Looks like you three will need to clue Sora in sooner rather than later. Maybe wait until he's done with this world first, though? He's coming up the ramp right now."

Riku really wanted to hit something, but he formed a Dark Corridor instead. "...Fine. I'll let you get away this time. But don't even think of messing with my friends again. And that includes telling Sora about me!" A few wisps of Darkness rose from Riku's shoulders to back up the threat, and Axel looked suitably spooked.

"Alright, okay, I got it memorized!" Axel formed his own Dark Corridor, and the two parties left the plaza right before Sora dashed up the ramp and Hayner came out of the station to give the Keyblade wielder the bad news about Kairi.

 **VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

 _Hollow Bastion: Borough..._

Riku and company were flung out of the Dark Corridor in a heap. Lambda did a quick scan on why they were dragged off course again, and she physically recoiled from the results. "We were pulled here by the Heartless. There are _thousands_ of them in the gorge outside town! And if they're letting off this much Darkness, they must be about to break in."

From behind them, a familiar accent declared, "I figured as much. Looks like I got my pet project finished just in time!"

Riku untangled himself from Namine and helped her stand up. "Cid? How do you keep showing up right behind us?"

"I dunno, how d'you keep showing up right in front of me? Anyway, it's time for the grand unveiling of the Claymore Defense Grid! Aaaand...CLICK!" Cid pushed a button on a boxy controller in his hand, causing energy constructs to form in random spots around the area. They looked like transparent, blue cylinders encasing opaque, darker blue spheres. The energy constructs slid along the ground in a patrolling pattern, passing right through Riku and Lambda, but one paused while the sphere was around Namine's sandals. "Oops, they've found an unknown target. Not to worry...aaand click!" Cid pointed the controller at Namine and pressed another button. "There, little girl, you're registered as friendly. After all, I doubt these kids would have brought you here to mess with us. Who are you, anyway?"

"My name is Namine. I've been wrapped up in the fight over Sora for a while, but I only recently started traveling with Riku and Lambda." Not the whole truth, but enough.

Lambda was focused on the cylinders that continued to patrol the area. "Target threat level graded as C class. Hypothetically, if that thing had finished charging before you changed Namine's classification in the system, what would it have done to her?"

Cid chuckled heartily. "The Claymores? They're a defense system for the town. Some of my finest work! They track Heartless and Nobodies and stay underfoot until they finish charging, then give them a shove to knock the enemy into the air. It's a pretty forceful attack, but I couldn't get them to do quite as much damage as Leon's gunblade. They're supposed to give anyone defending the town an opening to finish the job, and they'll keep interrupting whatever the monsters try to do. Neat, huh? Hey, wait just a gosh-darn minute! They only target Heartless and Nobodies! Are you a Nobody...Namine, was it?"

"Yes. I am. There are only a few Nobodies like me out there who look completely human. All the others are members of Organization XIII, but I was just their captive. They held me hostage for a long time. They made me use my powers against Sora, and now I'm traveling with Riku to atone for what I did as much as I can."

Lambda gave Namine a frustrated look. "You make it sound like you're some kind of criminal, Namine. Sora never held anything against you, did he?"

Namine didn't look convinced. "No, he didn't, but I thought it was because I'd altered the state of his heart too much. I was told to make it so he'd never say no to me."

Riku chuckled. "Nope, that's just who Sora is. He would have forgiven you no matter what state his memories were in. And you already fixed that problem; there are other things to do before any of us have time to wallow in self-pity."

Namine hesitated a moment more, but then gave a determined nod. "Right. Let's look for a better spot to leave Sora that clue."

A poof of magic signaled the arrival of Merlin...and the hasty departure of Cid. "You should stay at my house for the time being, Namine. A battle is coming, and it won't be safe to fight that many Heartless with only three offensive casts, now will it?"

Namine looked to Riku. "Would that be okay with you guys?"

Lambda nodded. "He's right about the dangers. Merlin, are you sure she'll be safe with you? The Organization has this guy named Xigbar who could track us everywhere we went, despite our Black Coats and everything else we've tried."

Merlin wheezed out a confident laugh. "Worry not, young one! You didn't think my house had only one room, did you? I have many places to hide secrets - ancient tomes, magic crystals, fugitive Nobodies. Namine will be safe in my care, and I'm certain can hide her from even the Organization's prying eyes. Come with me, dear; you may rejoin the others when the trouble has passed."

Merlin turned to address Riku and Lambda. "As for the two of you, you'd better wait a bit longer to deliver that box you're holding on to. I know of Kairi's plight and Sora's desperate need to find her - don't give me that look; of course I know, I'm a powerful wizard! However, the Keyblade's power will be needed to settle the battle taking place here and now. Sora mustn't be distracted!"

"We've been hearing 'wait to deliver the clues' a lot lately." Lambda grumbled, but then fell to her knees in supplication. "Please, oh great Merlin, could you help us find a good place and time to pass on the clues?"

"Fine, fine, there's no need to grovel at my feet...unless your name is Cid Highwind, that insufferable codger! Anyway, if my premonitions are correct, an opportunity to pass your hints to Sora will appear at the farthest reaches of the Great Maw, which is what we townspeople call the crystalline chasm outside the walls. It surges with Heartless, but they won't smell you in their haste to devour the town - and all of us plan to be quite unpalatable when they try! Wait at the cliff that overlooks Maleficent's most recent castle."

Riku pulled Lambda to her feet. "Okay, got it. Thanks for all the help, Merlin! And thanks for taking care of Namine. We'll be going now. Be safe!"

Waving to Namine with the hand that wasn't holding Lambda's, Riku called on the Darkness to send them to the spot Merlin described. The last thing the pair heard before the shift was Merlin asking Namine something about her Panel Grid, and then they were at the Dark Depths.

 **VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

 _Hollow Bastion: The Dark Depths..._

The pair appeared at the very end of the crystal canyon Merlin spoke of, which dead-ended at a tall cliff with a good view of Maleficent's makeshift castle. While Villain's Vale wasn't much to look at, the fact that Maleficent managed to conjure the entire building out of nowhere spoke volumes about her power.

A more pressing observation was that the whole clearing was crowded with Armored Knights and Search Robots, all trying to march through the Great Maw to attack Hollow Bastion. Riku and Lambda leaped up to one of the crystal outcroppings that framed the plateau, unnoticed by the singlemindedly advancing mob of Heartless.

"Where did Maleficent get this many Heartless?" Riku whispered.

" _She did not._ " A cold voice echoed, heralding the arrival of yet another member of Organization XIII. It was the blue-haired one from Betwixt and Between.

Lambda scanned the Nobody. From this close, she could tell he was very tall and muscular. Aside from his bright blue hair and yellow eyes, he had two criss-crossed scars over his nose, which gave him quite a distinctive appearance among his fellows. "Target threat level graded as S. Unable to determine Nobody Master's associated weapon or elemental affinity...but I'm going to go out on a limb and guess you're the one Axel called Sai'x."

"Hmph. You've met Axel, then. Yes, I am Sai'x, Organization XIII's Number VII. I relay the Superior's orders to the other members as his second-in-command, but that is of no importance to you. Know this: Axel is not to be trusted. He will manipulate everyone around him to achieve his goals, yet he doesn't even understand what his goals are anymore. He's a maverick and a traitor. We of the Organization will deal with him ourselves - do not interfere."

Riku crossed his arms. "Yeah, I figured all that out when he kidnapped Kairi. By the way, give her back!"

Sai'x merely glared at Riku. "No. Her plight will motivate Sora to tear through as many Heartless as he must to save her. After Kingdom Hearts is complete, we will have no more need of her." 

Lambda glared at the Nobody. "So then what? Do you plan to kill her?"

"Useless things are discarded, and if she were left alive, she would become a significant threat to us, if only through Sora."

Lambda arched an eyebrow. "Do you really want the first emotion you feel with a new heart to be regret - or worse, glee - at your own downright vile strategies? How far are you willing to sink for this ridiculous plan?"

Sai'x was unfazed. "I cannot speak for the others, but I can speak for Lord Xemnas as his loyal subordinate. This is the Superior's will, and his will shall be done."

Riku shrugged at Saix's indifference. "Well, Lambda, at least you can say we at least tried to save them the nice way. Now I don't have to feel bad when Sora rips your whole Organization apart, Sai'x."

"Your confidence is misplaced. Even Number IX should be able to handle the Keybearer as he is now. I warned you about Axel, so my work here is done. Farewell, so-called heroes of Darkness." Sai'x opened a Dark Corridor behind himself, then stepped backwards through it and disappeared.

Lambda scanned for Sora's location; he was headed the opposite way, towards the other castle with the Heartless factory underneath. "'Heroes of Darkness,' huh? That has a nice ring to it. What do you say, Riku? Should we keep that moniker?"

"Wait, he mentioned Number IX," Riku noticed. "Which one was that again?"

"Referencing... That was on the business card Demyx made for himself. I guess they're going to send Demyx to attack Sora."

Riku considered the possibility, but decided not to interfere. "Sora can handle it. It won't necessarily be _easy_ , but Sora's had a lot of practice at fighting, while Demyx...hasn't. Sending their weakest member was a mistake; they'll let Sora work his way up to the Superior."

"They must be testing Sora for some reason. Probably making sure he won't die against this flood of Heartless." The monsters were _still_ streaming through the canyon. "How did the Organization make this many Heartless? If they were made in the factory, they would have attacked from the other direction, right?"

Riku shuddered. "I _hope_ they didn't take this many people's hearts."

"I don't think so. There are only one or two types of Heartless here. Wouldn't the differences between people end up creating different kinds of Heartless?"

"Yeah, you're right. The Organization must have found a new way to mass-produce them. We should ask Merlin about it, or maybe Axel if we see him again."

"We'll have to do something to stop whatever they're using; the worlds can't handle this many Heartless. Right now, though, we don't have any leads." Lambda cupped a hand under her chin to think.

Riku looked around worriedly, then relaxed. "For a minute there, I thought Xigbar was going to show up out of nowhere and reveal their plans again. I guess we scared him off."

Of course, Xigbar piped up right at that moment, though his voice didn't come from anywhere the pair could see. "' _Scared'? As if! You're just not getting any more freebies from me. I'm_ always _watching._ "

Riku rolled his eyes under his hood. "Perfect, that means I can taunt you whenever I want."

Lambda chimed in, "Knowing where we are and what we're doing would only give you an advantage if you had some way to stop us. We're up for round two whenever you are."

Silence was their only response. Lambda sighed and returned to Heartless watching. "I hope he's as bored as we are."

"Where IS Sora, anyway?" Riku wondered.

"Scanning...wait, what does this reading mean? He was there, and then the signal changed. It's weird, like Sora became more orderly and even more confusing at the same time. I wonder what he's up to?"

 **VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

 _Space Paranoids: Game Grid..._

Commander Sark's voice boomed throughout the enormous flat arena. "Lose, and you will be subjected to immediate de-resolution. If you win? Well...no one wins." A high-tech motorcycle was constructed from data right next to Sora, and a pack of _Magnum Loader_ Heartless of several color-coded types zoomed past the party.

Walls went up all around the arena, partitioning off a single track on which Sora would have to beat the Heartless at a Light Cycle battle. Sora didn't think his skills at flying a Gummi Ship would translate to this vehicle...but he had to try.

 **VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

 _Back at The Dark Depths..._

Riku shrugged. "I'm sure he's fine. He gets into weird situations all the time."

Lambda plopped onto her back and groaned. "At least he's not just sitting around. This is boring."

"Definitely. What should we do to pass the time? Make out?" Riku was only half-joking.

Lambda sat up with immediate interest. "Sure, why not? The Heartless are kind of a mood-killer, not to mention Xigbar, but we can try."

Riku pulled off his hood and leaned in for a deeper kiss than usual, but ended up bonking Lambda in the nose. "Ow." He tried again before he could lose his nerve, tilting his head slightly this time.

At first, it wasn't much different from any of their other kisses, but when Riku wrapped his arms around Lambda in an embrace, they both decided that longer kisses were definitely better.

Lambda wondered if this sensation was why Riku always looked dizzy when she gave him surprise kisses before. Was there a term for this? The closest she could describe it was "explosive euphoric attraction," but that was too much of a mouthful to take seriously - especially while her mouth was completely occupied with feeling Riku.

Riku noticed Lambda going still, trying to calculate something, so he squeezed her tighter to keep her head in the moment. Why waste time thinking about it when this feeling was right there?

Eventually, Riku had to pull back and get some air, noticing with satisfaction that Lambda seemed disappointed with the cessation of kisses. "Sorry, dear. I need to catch my breath. That was..."

"Amazing? Splendid? Lovely?" Lambda guessed.

"More like..." Riku smooched Lambda again, pulling away after a few seconds. "Like that."

"...You win. That is a much better description." Lambda gazed at Riku in silent adoration for a few more moments.

"Eat your heart out, Xigbar," Riku muttered smugly. "Well, now we definitely can't let the Organization keep Kairi. Sora shouldn't have to miss out on that." Riku's eyes lit up with mirth. "Hey, I just realized I got my first kiss before Sora!" 

Lambda perked up. "Hey, I almost forgot! I need to update the score. I'd say that's two points for you for suggesting the kiss and fixing my description of it with the second."

"Does that mean I'm in the lead now?" Riku wondered.

"Affirmative. The score is 6 to 5. Do you have anything to add?"

"At least give yourself one point for being such a great kisser." Riku then remembered something from earlier. "Before I forget, let's keep the 'heroes of Darkness' title. I'm not sure when we'd actually need to call ourselves that, but it helps keep my self-esteem up. I'm still not that great with my Light."

"Um..." Lambda hesitated. "Do you think it would be easier to find your Light if you focused on me?"

Riku blushed hard, but tried it...and was almost overwhelmed by the surge of Light that rose up from within himself. "Y-yeah, that works. Now I've got to figure out what to do with all this Light."

Lambda stared at Riku as he began glowing with the same golden Light that had defeated Xehanort in Castle Oblivion. Then she realized the Heartless would notice all this Light. A glance at the canyon confirmed that the horde was slowing down and looking around. "Just try something, preferably before your glow attracts the Heartless."

"My glow? Oh. Wow!" Riku summoned Soul Eater and tried to funnel the Light into the blade. Gradually, the golden aura around his body shifted to a blue aura around Soul Eater, completely obscuring the blade and making it appear to be an energy blade. The more Light Riku pumped into the weapon, the larger the energy blade became. "This is so cool! I think I'll call this technique 'Bladecharge'. I'll need to practice to get it to work faster, but just feel that power!" Riku let the aura dissipate, causing the Heartless below to pause in confusion before returning their blank, yellow gazes to their original objective.

Direct order confirmed. "Acknowledged. That _is_ a lot of power! And you figured it out in one try! Keep up the good work, Riku!"

"Well, I couldn't have done it without you, Lambda. Give yourself a point!"

"Score updated. Riku: 7, Lambda: 6."

Riku raised an eyebrow. "Wait, wasn't I at 6 before? Shouldn't we be tied?"

Lambda blushed with embarrassment, both for being caught giving Riku an unannounced point, and for the reason she added it. "Well, you basically demonstrated that I'm your Light just now. That's got to count as a point for you."

They both sat there turning redder for a few moments. Riku looked for a distraction. "Where's Sora now?"

"Scanning... he's coming this way. Additional targets detected: Donald and Goofy, 6 residents of Hollow Bastion, all graded as A-class fighters; two - correction: one member of Organization XIII, threat level SS. One Organization target has been terminated; identified as Demyx."

"Who's the other one?"

"Target unidentified...which means it must be Xemnas; he's one of the few I haven't seen yet, and he's way stronger than the others... Unable to determine target's exact location. Additional threats include 1,695 C-class Heartless, being terminated at an average rate of twenty per minute. Sora will be here soon. Wait, why is Goofy so far back and not moving?"

"Huh? Let's check on him." Riku opened a Dark Corridor and pulled Lambda through.

 **VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

 _Castle Gate..._

Riku immediately located Goofy next to the wall of the half-restored clearing- the dog was sprawled out on the ground, motionless. "Well, there he is. Is he dead?"

Lambda checked. "Scanning...target's life-signs are stable. Notable injuries include a minor concussion. Probability of recovery: 100 percent. Projected downtime: minimal. In other words, he's totally fine. Do ANY of those guys know how to take a pulse? Why would they just assume he's dead?! Then again, it might be hard to get a pulse from a human-sized dog..."

Riku facepalmed. "Well, let's go before Goofy wakes up. Sora, you idiot..."

The pair went back through the Dark Corridor to resume waiting.

 **VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

 _The Dark Depths..._

Lambda did another scan for Sora's location. "Yep, that was fast. Goofy has rejoined the party. Just in time to help them beat the last thousand Heartless!"

Riku held up a hand for silence, to which Lambda instantly complied. "Wait, Sora's about to slay a _thousand_ Heartless? Won't that give Xemnas a huge head-start on his Kingdom Hearts?"

Lambda confirmed, "Yeah, that's probably why the whole attack happened, with some minor interference from Maleficent. Actually, Sora's already beaten almost a hundred...two hundred...He'll probably slay the last one in a minute or so. I have to admit, this is quite an effective strategy for the Organization."

"Well, at least that means we're done waiting. Get your Black Coat back on and get ready to jump in as soon as we can catch Sora, Donald, and Goofy without any of the others."

"Acknowledged." Lambda re-summoned her Black Coat and pulled up the hood. "I would be fine with wearing this thing all the time, but I really hate the boots."

Riku raised an eyebrow under his own hood. "What's so bad about boots?"

"Maybe it's just a Murakumo Unit thing, but I don't like having my feet covered up, though the weaponized leg armor on my Battle Mode is fine. Uh-oh, here they come!" Lambda moved behind Riku so that she wouldn't be seen on the off-chance Sora looked up.

 **VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

 _Sora's side..._

Sora leaned against the canyon wall to catch his breath - after slaying more than a thousand Heartless and a member of Organization XIII, he was more than a little tired. But there wasn't much further to go, so he pushed himself off the wall to catch up to King Mickey, who had charged ahead at full speed (as usual).

The King was staring down Xehanort's Nobody. He'd been even more urgent in his pursuit ever since remembering the true identity of "Ansem, Seeker of Darkness." Sora thought that forgetting the man's name in the first place was kind of weird; why wouldn't the King remember important stuff like that? But regardless of his identity, here was their chance to beat the Nobody leader once and for all!

"Xehanort!" Mickey shouted at the Nobody, whose back was turned.

Without turning around, the leader of Organization XIII mused to himself, "How long has it been since I abandoned that name...?"

Sora caught up. "Okay, out with it, Nobody! Where's Kairi? Where's Riku?"

Up on the ledge, Riku flinched. He'd almost forgotten that he was half of Sora's reason for going on this whole quest.

"I know nothing of your Kairi's whereabouts - Axel acted on his own. As for Riku..." Xehanort's Nobody finally turned around. "...Perhaps you should ask your king?"

Sora turned to King Mickey. "Your Majesty, do you know where Riku is?"

Mickey pointedly did not look at Sora, so he saw the Nobody starting to vanish. "Wait!" The King lunged at the swirling Darkness that accompanied Organization members teleporting, and unlike Donald, Mickey was fast enough to be swallowed up and vanish along with the enemy.

"Not again..." Sora was getting kind of sick of Mickey running away like that, but surely he had a good reason...? Donald and Goofy shared the sentiment.

A new voice came from behind them. "Way to fall right into their trap." Axel was leaning against the wall.

"What are you talking about?" Sora demanded.

"C'mon, it's a set-up by Organization XIII! Xemnas is using you to defeat the Heartless." 

"Xemnas?" Donald almost clearly enunciated the name.

"The guy who just left. He's their leader. X-E-M, N-A-S. Got it memorized?"

Goofy asked, "The Organization wants to defeat the Heartless?"

Axel snickered, "Man, you're slow!" He pointed at Sora's Keyblade, which he still held from the earlier battle. "Each Heartless slain by that Keyblade releases a captive heart. That's what the Organization is after."

Sora was already overwhelmed with new info today, and placing this new problem on top of all the stress, he was about ready to break down. "I don't care about any of that! Just tell me where Kairi is!"

Axel sighed, and when he looked up, he actually seemed regretful. "Look, about Kairi...I'm sorry. It wasn't going to work, and I wish I could-"

"Axel." Sai'x appeared between Axel and Sora. This place was starting to look like a revolving door of Organization XIII members, especially when Axel immediately vanished with a highly convincing expression of panic on his face. Without turning around, Sai'x addressed Sora. "We'll ensure he receives the maximum punishment. Sora...you just keep on defeating those Heartless."

"Why should I listen to you? Give Kairi back!"

"Is she that important to you?" Sai'x asked.

"Yes. More...more than anything." All the time Sora had spent away from Kairi crashed down on his heart when he confessed.

"Show me how important." Sai'x stood expectantly.

Sora hesitated for a moment, then got onto his hands and knees in a position of supplication. "Please..."

Anyone would have been moved by this display of utter sincerity and desperation, but Sai'x had no expression on his face. "I see. You do care for her. In that case...the answer is no."

Sora leaped to his feet, fists tightened and tears shining in his eyes. "You rotten...!"

Riku would have used much stronger language if he wasn't undercover. _Bastard_ was too nice of a description for this guy.

"Are you angry? Do you hate me? Then take that rage, and direct it at the Heartless." Sai'x snapped his fingers, summoning a group of Armored Knights. He turned his face upward and started a monologue. "Pitiful Heartless, mindlessly collecting hearts. And yet, they know not the true power of what they hold... The rage of the Keyblade releases those hearts. They gather in Darkness, masterless and free...until they weave together to make Kingdom Hearts! And when that time comes, we can truly, finally exist."

" _What are you prattling on about?_ " Maleficent, too!? She appeared between Sora and Sai'x and summoned a group of Soldier Heartless. She started making dramatic, sweeping gestures as usual. "Kingdom Hearts belongs to me! The heart of all worlds...the heart of all that lives. A dominion fit to be called Kingdom Hearts must be _MY_ dominion!"

"What a waste of time." With two snaps of his fingers, Sai'x dismissed the Armored Knights and summoned some Dusks, which made laughably short work of Maleficent's Soldiers. The Nobodies then turned to Sora. "If you won't cooperate, we can force you to obey." The Dusks lunged at Sora, who was too much in shock to do more than cover his face with his arms.

However, instead of cutting claws, a wave of heat pushed against Sora's closed eyes. Maleficent had created a wall of green flames to separate Sai'x from Sora, drawing the Nobodies' attention. They piled on top of the evil fairy and tried to drag her to the ground. "Sora! While I keep these creatures at bay, you devise a way to vanquish them - forever!"

Sora's brain broke a bit. Was this really happening? _Maleficent_ was trying a heroic sacrifice? He didn't move. "Maleficent, don't!"

Maleficent snarled around a Dusk's attempt to hug her in half. "I do not take orders from you! Do not misunderstand me - I shall have my vengeance on you yet! Now, go! Leave this place, and destroy these meddlers!"

Sora repeated, "I don't take orders from you!"

Maleficent growled, but teleported away, leaving the Dusks to collapse in a heap.

Sai'x rolled his yellow eyes. "Now then...where did we leave off?" The Dusks disappeared, replaced by Armored Knights again.

So Maleficent controlled the Heartless, and Sai'x did too, despite wanting Sora to destroy them? "Whose side are you guys on, anyway?" Sora yelled at the Heartless, not really expecting an answer.

"The Heartless ally with whoever's the strongest. So, what will you do?" Sai'x stood back and watched dispassionately as an Armored Knight leaped at Sora. On instinct, Sora cut the Heartless in two, along with one that tried to hit him from behind. Sai'x grinned. "Yes, Sora! Keep it up."

The hearts from the defeated Heartless rose into the air and disappeared. This was a sight Sora had seen almost constantly on his journeys, and he'd never thought much of it, but now it was a sign that the Organization was winning. Sora lost the will to fight. "Maybe everything we've done...maybe it was all for nothing." He shoved away another Heartless, but didn't destroy it. "What am I supposed to do if I can't use the Keyblade?!"

Riku, who had been watching the whole thing, took this as a personal insult. _Then what was our battle about, Sora? Where's that all-powerful heart of yours? Don't just teach me a moral lesson and then forget it yourself!_

" _Idiots! You can't be trusted to do anything!_ " Maleficent apparently hadn't fled that far away. Then again, her castle was pretty close by; maybe she was on her throne. The important part was the hole of Darkness that opened under Sora's feet. It grew until it caught Donald and Goofy as well, then the three friends fell into the Realm of Darkness.

Riku finally saw his chance. "Lambda! _Now!_ " He grabbed Lambda in a bridal carry and leaped headfirst into the slowly-shrinking hole.

 **VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

 _The Realm of Darkness..._

As soon as the Darkness swallowed them up, Riku issued an order to Lambda: "Lambda, remain silent for now. I'll handle this."

Rather than responding with _Acknowledged_ , Lambda merely nodded.

Sora, Donald, and Goofy stumbled toward each other, looking around at the empty, black environment. Just as it had been when Riku fell down here originally, there was nothing whatsoever to see in the Realm of Darkness. "Where are we?" Goofy wondered aloud.

"This must be the Realm of Darkness! I wonder if we can find a way to Kairi from here..." Sora was sick of not being able to see her. And where the heck was Riku?

"Whoa! Who're you?" Think of the devil... Goofy yelped and pointed at a man in a Black Coat. With his hood over his face, it could have been anyone, but Sora had only seen Organization members wear that get-up. And there was another person behind him, but this was the first time Sora remembered seeing a female in a Black Coat.

Without speaking, Riku made a cocky, dismissive gesture, the sort of pose he'd used a lot back on Destiny Islands. He turned to Lambda and held out his hand. Understanding his intent, Lambda withdrew the white box of clues and passed it to him. Riku turned back to Sora and curled his hand in a "Come at me!" gesture, then teleported both himself and Lambda out of the Realm of Darkness, letting the box fall to the ground.

 **VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

 _Hollow Bastion: The Dark Depths..._

The hole to the Realm of Darkness was still open when Riku and Lambda reappeared on the higher cliff, but it had shrunk dangerously small. What if Sora was trapped inside?

They needn't have worried; a brilliant beam of Light blasted out of the hole, lancing skyward and growing wider by the moment. Lambda registered three teleports, as well as an unlocked World Gate. She turned to Riku and pointed at her throat, hoping he'd figure out her pantomimed request to speak.

Riku stared for a second, then remembered his order. "Oh! Lambda, you may speak freely. And all that stuff."

"Acknowledged. Did you know the ice cream was a lock on a World Gate?"

"What? Why would a random bar of ice cream from Twilight Town be a World Gate for Hollow Bastion?"

"I really hate to say it, but 'destiny' is the only explanation that makes sense. At least it let Sora escape the Realm of Darkness."

"Sora..." All the moments of mounting distress Riku had just witnessed flashed across his eyes. Sora just didn't look _right_ with tears on his face. And Riku knew he was at least partly to blame.

Lambda nodded, seemingly reading Riku's thoughts. But really, what else would he be thinking about? "The longer we do this, the more it hurts Sora. Do we stay the course, Riku?"

"I..."

Lambda suddenly looked up. "Hey, why is Sora headed to Beast's Castle?! Did he even LOOK at the photo?"

Riku groaned into his palm. "...Knowing them, they probably ate the ice cream, too. I shouldn't have assumed Sora could figure out clues. It says something that the dog named _Goofy_ is the most perceptive member of his party. Well, we have to get him back on track somehow. Of course, given how quickly he finished fixing up the last two worlds and handled this crisis, he could be done with a whole other sweep of the worlds he's visited in a day or two."

"We should probably still keep going after him, to make sure he's still got the will to fight."

"Yeah..." Riku raised his hand to make a Dark Corridor, but hesitated. "Wait, we almost forgot about Namine!"

Lambda facepalmed. "Oh yeah, we left her at Merlin's! With all this action...and all this waiting...I can't believe it's only been a few hours since then. Let's check in with Namine for now."

"Acknowledged," Riku jokingly imitated Lambda. He formed the Dark Corridor.

Lambda groaned at Riku's laughably bad falsetto. "Well, at least you can follow protocol." She grabbed Riku's hand and pulled him through the portal.

 **VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

 _A/N: Apologies for the long delay._ AGAIN. _In other news, tomorrow is my birthday! Reviews would make great presents!_


	22. It Happened Again!

**Silver Linings**

 **Chapter 22: "It Happened Again!"**

 _A/N: Slowly, slowly, this fanfic trudges toward completion. Ironically, the characters have started moving faster._

 **VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

 _Hollow Bastion: Borough..._

Lambda stepped out of the Dark Corridor and tugged against Riku's wrist, surprised at the force she had to exert to pull him out of the Darkness. He finally came free with a sudden jerk, slamming headfirst into the wall dividing the Borough from the Market.

"Oof! Sorry, Riku! Is it always that hard to pull people out of a Dark Corridor?"

Riku staggered to his feet with one hand on his head. "Ow. No, not for me, at least when there's only one other person. Maybe it has to do with your connection to the Darkness?"

Lambda pondered that. "Maybe. My Darkness seems to have gotten a lot weaker than yours. I'll definitely let _you_ take the lead through Dark Corridors from now on."

Riku straightened up and started walking toward Merlin's house. "My forehead agrees. C'mon, let's check on Namine. Judging by how fast Sora's been going, he's probably halfway done with whatever he's doing in Beast's Castle by now."

 **VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

 _Meanwhile, in Beast's Castle: Master Bedroom..._

"Well, I do know one thing. This castle belongs to _ME!_ Xaldin will never be welcome here!"

Sora, Donald, and Goofy cheered for the Beast as he brushed past them to take back his precious rose and reclaim his last chance at happiness. Xaldin was going down!

 **VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

 _Back with Riku..._

Lambda fell into step beside Riku. "You're probably right."

Riku raised a gloved fist to knock on Merlin's door, but it opened before he could try. "Come in, come in! You simply must see the improvements I've made to Namine's Panel Grid!" Merlin ushered the couple inside so quickly that there might have been a teleport involved.

Namine waved to them from a chair in front of Merlin's small tea table. "Hello, Riku and Lambda. I've been okay here. No one attacked this place."

Merlin scoffed pridefully. "Only a fool would dare intrude in the home of a mighty wizard! ...Especially after I installed more traps. The Heartless have made a fool of me for the last time!"

"What did the Heartless do?" Riku wondered.

Merlin sputtered, "N-nothing important, the book wasn't even mine! What Heartless? You must be hearing things."

Lambda grabbed Riku's hand to stop him from prodding further. "I think we should stop asking, dear. What if he turns your beard orange?"

Lambda was half-joking, but Merlin glared in challenge. "Don't think I won't. You're not safe from my patented 'Tigerbeard' spell just because you don't have a beard right now!"

Riku wisely decided to change topics. "I'll pass, thanks. Is it okay to bring Namine with us again?"

Merlin's mood instantly brightened. Did he suddenly forget the last five minutes, or...? "Certainly, but first you should familiarize yourselves with her new Panel Grid. It was a simple matter to allow two panel areas to overlap on each square, enabling nearly endless possible Panel arrangements!"

Namine nodded enthusiastically. "He created a lot of new Panels, too. I've never even heard of a Spell Panel for Magnet before!" Namine spread out a pile of Panels with various symbols - more Panels than even the enhanced Panel Grid could possibly fit. "He gave me extra copies, so I can swap spent Spell Panels with fresh ones. I won't have to worry about running out of casts anymore."

Lambda nodded appreciatively. "You probably couldn't swap them in the middle of a fight, though."

Riku wasn't as immersed in the technical details as the other three people in the room. He wandered over to Cid's computer. "Does this house even have electrical outlets? How does this thing get power?"

Merlin grumbled, "That insufferable mongrel, Cid Highwind, ran cables through my wall, and then he had the nerve to lock that eyesore of a terminal with a password!"

Lambda glanced up at it and scanned the physical components. "No, it's using a camera to check for faces. Interfacing..." She spread her hands, creating a holographic keyboard to further analyze the terminal, mostly on a whim. "Relevant code found. 'Block user if the following traits match: floppy blue hat, stick-thin limbs, beard more than 0.5 times the user's total height; OR block voiceprint matching: ' _I'll_ show you who's old!'"

Lambda did a perfect impression of Merlin's voice by playing the sound file. "It looks like Cid doesn't like you, either. Oh, and the password prompt is actually a chance to check the pressure sensors under the keys, so anyone who bangs on the keys gets locked out, not just Merlin. I had no idea Cid was so underhandedly vindictive."

Merlin started fuming, as in magic smoke started visibly pouring from his nostrils. "That's it! When I see him again, I'll..."

Riku hurriedly interrupted, "Sorry, can't stay! We gotta take Namine and catch up with Sora!"

He grabbed Namine and Lambda's wrists in one hand, waited just long enough for Namine to gather up her Panels, and opened a Dark Corridor. Namine's attempt to thank Merlin for the panel grid was cut short, right before the wizard's rage literally exploded behind them.

 **VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

 _Land of Dragons: Mountain Village (Destroyed)..._

Riku yanked the two blondes out of the Dark Corridor and caught them in the crooks of his elbows. "Huff, huff... Are you both okay? That could have gotten ugly."

Lambda reported, "All systems functional. I'll try to keep my technological curiosity to myself next time. Merlin wasn't kidding about his power...even I could feel it, and I wasn't built to work with magic. Maybe I can use the magic of this timeline..." Lambda trailed off and started fantasizing about roasting Xigbar with Fire spells.

Namine took a second to catch her breath, then added, "Grabbing me all of a sudden made my new heart skip a beat, but I managed to hold onto all the Panels. Are we in the right place?" Namine gestured around the party at the devastated village and fresh snowfall, then started shoving Panels into a manila Folder of Holding (which Merlin had added inside her sketchbook's front cover).

Riku looked around for a second before facepalming. "I must have overshot in the rush to get out of there. But if the pattern holds, Sora will end up here next." For Namine's benefit, Riku recapped the current situation. "Sora totally ignored the clues we gave him and set off toward Beast's Castle. I don't think I can make it much more clear than a photograph of the place he needs to go. Namine, do you have any ideas on what we should do next?"

Namine did have one. "Can we get out of this cold weather, please? I don't have a heavy Black Coat like you two do." She suddenly shivered as a clumped snowflake landed on her neck. When Riku didn't immediately move to rectify the situation, she yelled, "Fire!" The spell launched a red ball of flame that struck a timber on a nearby ruined house. Unfortunately, this village was already burnt out. "Brr... I'd love to stay with you, but I think I should head back to Merlin's for now. Hopefully he's distracted himself from his feud by now. Good luck catching Sora!" With an apologetic curtsy, Namine opened a Dark Corridor and left.

Lambda stared at the empty space where their third party member had been. "I'm _definitely_ keeping my curiosity to myself from now on." If she hadn't dug into Cid's anti-Merlin security, Riku wouldn't have had to rush them out of there too quickly to plan ahead.

Riku sighed heavily. "Well, I guess it's just the two of us again. Our team got split up after just one run of bad decisions - we both screwed up on the way here, and Namine couldn't follow us anymore. How do Sora, Donald, and Goofy manage to stay together when they argue all the time?"

Lambda guessed, "Maybe it's just a matter of Sora being Sora? It's not logic, but it works. Speaking of which...scanning... Sora located. Currently in combat with an undocumented member of Organization XIII."

Riku smirked under his hood. "Scratch one more member of Organization XIII, then. DiZ was right about one part of his plan - Sora's strong enough to destroy all of them."

 **VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

 _Meanwhile, at Beast's Castle: Bridge..._

"Xaldin! Get out of my castle, _NOW!_ "

Xaldin landed easily after jumping away from the Beast's claws. "Of course, but I'd rather travel light. What shall I leave behind...? Belle? Or the rose?"

The Beast pondered this cruel decision for only a moment before making his choice. "Belle!"

Then, a few things happened almost instantly.

First, Belle broke out of Xaldin's grip while he was distracted with taunting the Beast.

Next, she elbowed him right in the crotch. There were advantages to being way shorter than her captor.

Third, Xaldin clutched his abused groin with both hands, only to realize that Belle had taken the rose as well - glass case and all.

Finally, a short flash of light came from the direction of Sora, who was standing a short distance away from the action for now. It almost seemed like a camera...

By the time Xaldin got his composure back, Belle had managed to get behind the Beast. There could be no safer place in that world, but just in case, she kept running until she made it off the bridge with the enchanted rose in tow. Goofy and Donald cheered for Belle, but Sora was distracted.

Sora craned his neck around; Jiminy Cricket was bouncing up and down on his shoulder, giggling like a madman. "I got it! I got it! I took the funniest picture my Album's ever had!"

Goofy slowly interpreted, "You mean you got a photo of..."

Jiminy finished, "Xaldin getting beaten by Belle! That was too funny!"

Xaldin was _not_ amused. "'Beaten,' you say...? 'Funny'? Where's the fun in this?!" With an angry gesture, he generated six tornadoes around himself that each dispersed to reveal a blue spear. The aptly-titled Whirlwind Lancer grasped one spear in his left hand and two in his right, leaving the other three to float behind him on wind currents. "Fine then; I'll have 'fun' with _you!_ Wind, guard me!"

Xaldin surrounded himself with a swirl of wind, forming a shield that Sora recognized as a powerful Aero spell, and the battle began!

 **VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

 _Back with Riku's party, or what's left of it..._

Lambda agreed with Riku's confidence in Sora. "Projected duration of battle: three minutes, assuming local time frame. This detour could be a good thing; the more Organization members Sora beats while we're off track, the fewer survivors we'll have to fight at the end."

Riku nodded firmly, then changed the subject. "Something else is bugging me, though. We almost had a pattern while we were jumping around the worlds without following Sora; we ran into a Time Break on almost every world. From what we've heard from visitors and Kokonoe, the Azure Timeline was about to face another apocalypse in addition to the threat of a Time Break expanding too far. But we haven't seen a Time Break since we ran into Taokaka; did Kokonoe's allies win? If their timeline is destroyed, would there even be Time Breaks?"

"You're right; contact with the Azure Timeline has been weirdly scarce. I suppose I can try to call Kokonoe. Should I?" Lambda powered up her internal radio.

To his credit, Riku tried to think this through. "What are the chances we'll catch her at a bad moment?"

"None. There's a neat device out there called an answering machine that plays a pre-recorded message in case the person on the other end can't..."

Riku interrupted Lambda's explanation. "Yes, I know what an answering machine is. The mainland of Destiny Islands wasn't just a village of plywood huts; we had telephone service and basic computers. If you're sure, then go ahead and call."

Lambda nodded. "Calling...routing to external speaker... Hello, Kokonoe? It's me, Lambda. The Time Breaks have been quiet lately; did something happen over there?"

"Okay, how did you get this number? Moreover, are you telling me you're the 11th Boundary Interface subject? Impossible. I haven't been able to excavate its remains, much less restore its functions."

"Wait, you don't remember me? Or Riku? Could there have been a Phenomena Intervention?"

Kokonoe groaned over the speaker. "Ugh, I've got a headache...which means there may have actually been an intervention. But if it could affect even my data... Okay, assuming you are who you say you are, what date did you first contact me?"

"I'm not sure how to clock that between timelines...wait, I remember! Hold for just one second..." Lambda dug into the pocket of her Black Coat and retrieved the first gift she'd gotten from Merlin. "Okay, World Clock, work your magic... It was on January 3rd, 2200 AD."

Kokonoe squawked in disbelief. "What? That's after the time loop ends!"

Lambda's face went pale as some of the puzzle pieces fit together. "Oh...oh, I get it. Everything's been reset to what it was like before the loop was broken. Is it just another Intervention, or did something even bigger happen...?"

Kokonoe went into deep doing-science mode on the problem. "Come to think of it, I've had a vague feeling of...wrongness for a while now. The sensation was too vague to even put in my documents, but if this isn't a time loop, if it's a parallel world, then I'll need to rework a lot of assumptions... Starting with how I apparently ended up handing my radio frequency to a rogue Murakumo Unit."

Lambda winced. "It's a _long_ story. I can't really explain everything, but...aw, shoot, I ended up forming a Time Break! Look around your lab; do you see a distortion?"

"Yeah, I see it! what the hell is this!?"

"That's a Time Break - an unstable rip in whatever barrier separates your universe from the one I accidentally fell into." The full implications of this situation crashed down on Lambda. If this version of Kokonoe didn't know about the Time Breaks, then the problem might have resolved itself when the world transferred, or looped, or whatever happened. The Time Breaks were gone.

Or at least, they _used_ to be gone, until... "Did I...oh no, I did! I just restarted _that_ mess! This is really bad..."

Lambda quickly outlined what she knew of how the previous timeline's Kokonoe had designed a Time Breaker device. "You probably have some time before the Time Break expands enough to become a serious problem, but if our worlds collide..."

Kokonoe replied, "...Yeah, I get the picture. I'm sure I can redesign a Time Breaker - they don't call me a genius for nothing, after all. I think I...actually remember how I did it before, but I'll need to run tests...give me two hours for that and to sort out what happened to the timeline. Wait, did you say Relius Clover?! I...I _killed_ that sonuvabitch!"

"He didn't stay dead, then. Watch out for him; he's working with Terumi. Maybe knowing that will give you a head-start in dealing with them. But they're just a problem for your end - two universes depend on your ability to handle the Time Breaks."

"I get it, I get it! We'll talk more later; right now, I've suddenly got a lot more science to do. Kokonoe out."

The transmission ended.

Lambda broke down in tears. This was what, the third time she'd been at least indirectly responsible for potentially destroying the multiverse? "Why does this happen every time? Every time we try to fix this, it gets worse! I just made a radio call, and... Is it all my fault, is that it?"

Riku hugged Lambda tightly, doing all he could to comfort her. "Don't say things like that. We'll find something that works eventually. Does Phenomena Intervention work on it?"

"Hmm...I'll try." Lambda engaged the Time Break in a short staring contest, and it suddenly vanished, leaving behind only a momentary ripple in the air. "Hey, it does work! So if I accidentally open a Time Break by trying to contact someone on the other side or with Observation, I can close it with just my own Intervention... But new ones can definitely still be opened, and I already told someone in the Azure Timeline of the possibility, so we'd better be on the lookout."

Riku nodded. "Yeah, and we know Kokonoe's going to call us soon, which will probably cause another Time Break. But, you know...I can't make myself see these rifts as just being a bad thing. After all, if it hadn't been for the first Time Break... I never would have met you."

Lambda stared at Riku. Where did he find these romantic lines? Well, Lambda had to admit they worked. The best response she could come up with was, "Point: Riku!"

Riku nodded sagely, as though the order of the universe had been confirmed. "I must be getting better at this; I worded it that way on purpose this time. Remember back in Castle Oblivion? Back then, you were the one trying to boost my confidence all the time. Well, now you can say it worked. You can probably give yourself a point for it, too; I think you're falling behind."

Lambda nodded and updated the score. "Okay, the current total is 9 to 7, still in your favor...hey, remind me what we're standing in the snow for again?"

Riku blinked. "Wow, in all the weirdness with the new Time Breaks, I almost forgot we were out in the snow. Is Sora finished with Xaldin yet?"

"Scanning for Xaldin...affirmative. Target terminated. Sora is on the move. He's probably going to show up really soon; he's almost through the Gummi Route that leads here."

 **VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

 _With Sora, in Stardust Sweep..._

"Hah! Take that, you dumb Heartless!" Donald crowed as he unloaded bombs and bullets on a Hunter that tried to block the path of the newly-revamped Gummi Ship. Chip and Dale had really gone all out on the firepower of the _Falcon_ , and even put together a pair of Teeny Ships for Goofy, which the dog clearly enjoyed.

Goofy ordered the Teeny Ships to hover in front of the main ship's nose, aiming all of their bullets directly ahead. He had worked out several formations and movement patterns to get the most out of the little drones for large groups or concentrated firepower; Goofy had only been able to watch the radar for too long for his liking, and he wanted to be as useful as possible. Between the two Disney Castle officials, no Heartless or Nobody impeded the ship for very long.

The enemy Hunter finally took too much damage and was wracked by chains of explosions, which left a clear path for the _Falcon_ to clear the Gummi Route _._

Sora let out a sigh of relief as they passed back through the Keyhole-shaped portal. He would rather have gone right back to Twilight Town to follow the clues they'd received (could they have been from Riku?), but the Gummi Routes he had used before had all closed themselves, including the one to Twilight Town, even though he hadn't opened that route himself. Sora even had to do all of the combat zones again, and there were a lot more enemies throughout each zone than ever before.

Maybe the worlds themselves were scared of the Heartless' sudden population boom - there were a lot more of them running around than before, and not just in Hollow Bastion. Well, Sora was still making progress and protecting other worlds - as much as he'd rather find Kairi, he had to handle the problems right in front of him first. To himself, he vowed, "Hold on, Kairi. I'll keep searching for as long as it takes until I find a way to reach you." He pressed the button to teleport himself and his party to the surface of The Land of Dragons.

 **VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

 _Back with Riku..._

A blue flash came from downhill, signaling that Sora's party had arrived. Riku made sure his hood was all the way over his head and strode through the wrecked town toward the flash, trying to maintain his confidence. It was time to stop running...right? Lambda silently followed behind Riku.

There they were; Sora, Donald, and Goofy, though they were facing away from the village. Riku loudly crunched the snow under his boots to get their attention.

Sora's party didn't have favorable reactions.

Sora summoned his Keyblade. "Who are you two?"

Goofy guessed (incorrectly, for once), "Organization XIII?"

Donald yelped, "Two at once?"

All three readied their weapons.

Riku's confidence shattered instantly upon seeing Sora's unusually intense expression of closed-off anger directed squarely at him. Without giving the matter any further thought, Riku turned and ran. He didn't even have the presence of mind to use the Darkness for extra speed.

Lambda raised a hand after Riku, hoping to stop him, but he was over the hill and out of sight before she could even decide whether to blow their cover by speaking. She turned back to Sora and bowed her head apologetically for a moment before giving chase.

Sora only hesitated for a moment. "C'mon, guys!" Gesturing for Donald and Goofy to follow, he chased after the strangers.

 **VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

 _The Land of Dragons: Summit..._

Riku berated himself all the way to the summit, but kept running...until he ran face-first into a Rapid Thruster. He caught his tongue before he could cry out; Sora could be right behind him.

"Hey, quit sneaking around!" Speak of the hero... It was time to face the Keyblade again. But now, there really was no running. The Heartless set up a Dark Barrier to trap the two of them in battle. No, wait, the _three_ of them; Lambda had been right on Riku's heels.

Riku slowly turned around, not quite ready to try and explain, but saw a Rapid Thruster heading for Sora, who was too distracted to notice. On instinct, Riku flash-stepped into the Heartless' path and sliced it in two with Soul Eater.

Sora gawked at the demonic sword. Only two people had ever used a weapon like that around Sora: Riku, and Ansem...er, Xehanort's Heartless. But the Heartless was dead, so this was -

Another Rapid Thruster interrupted Sora's train of thought. The air was thick with the little yellow pests by now. Since it seemed this Black Coat guy, whoever he was, wanted to deal with the Heartless instead of letting them attack Sora, the Keyblade wielder decided to work on that problem first.

 **VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

 _Defeat all of the Heartless!_

Sora jumped into the air, then double-jumped - a skill he'd learned from using Master Form - and used the extra height to attack the Heartless with air combos.

Riku launched a salvo of Dark Firagas in the other direction, destroying a sizable clump of the little annoyances, then summoned a massive rain of Soul Eaters with Dark Barrage. The more of them Riku destroyed instead of Sora, the slower Organization XIII's goal could be accomplished.

Lambda decided there wasn't any point in hiding her face or voice, since Sora didn't know her identity. "Summoning Lux Sanctus. IDEA Engine linked! Murakumo, activate!" Now armed and armored, Lambda summoned green swords to fly every which way. It wasn't often that she had such a target-rich environment.

One of her swords nicked Sora as it passed by, but Sora didn't quite see what hit him; he was too busy slaying a whole gaggle of Rapid Thrusters with an aerial spin attack. These newcomers had taken out way more Heartless than him; Sora pushed himself to move faster.

At last, the Heartless started to thin out. The barrier shined and disappeared, which was Riku's cue to flee the area. Given that Sora already mistrusted him, he'd need to find a better time to approach. Lambda saw him go, and dashed away while Sora was distracted with finishing off the last twenty or so Rapid Thrusters.

 **VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

 _A hidden snowdrift..._

Riku hadn't looked where he was going, and he ended up on the other side of the mountain from the village; he'd ended up on the very border of this world. So what was Xigbar doing here? 

"Come to crash the party, did ya? Well, you're too late!" Xigbar pointed at a massive dragon that was under attack by a group of Heartless _Invisibles_. It had been some time since Riku had seen one of these super-powerful Heartless. The dragon was pinned to the ground by crystals from Xigbar's arrowguns, which had stuck its feet to the floor.

It was, of course, a Chinese _lung_ dragon, with a serpentine body covered in crimson scales and a golden mane running down its back. It also had a mustache of sorts, but the Invisibles attacking it had already chopped the whiskers off one side of its face.

With thrashing, roaring, and biting, the nameless dragon reduced the group of five Invisibles down to one, even though it was too exhausted to breathe fire and pinned to the ground to prevent flight. It wasn't quite strong enough to beat them all, though. The last Invisible plunged its sword into the dragon, and though the dragon's death throes managed to slam the Invisible and destroy it, the damage was done. A sharp burst of Light emanated from the dragon's wound, and its heart started to float away.

"Bulls-eye!" Xigbar teleported into the heart's path and shot it with a black arrowgun crystal, blasting the heart back into the dragon. This wasn't an act of kindness by any measure, though. Now the dragon itself would become a powerful new Heartless type. A cloud of Darkness and lightning formed around the dragon, obscuring it from view. Xigbar turned back toward Riku and Lambda to gloat. "Hey, punks, get a load of this cool new Heartless I just cooked up!"

"No, _you_ get a load of _this!_ Dark Impulse!" Lambda caught on quickly and set a Gravity Seed under Xigbar, and Riku followed with his trusty shockwave slam move. Xigbar's control over space prevailed, though, and he teleported away from the area.

 _"Oopsy-daisy! Too slow, punks! Sorry, gotta bounce. World orders to disrupt, y'know? We'll chat later, but you can have fun with the_ Storm Rider _in the meantime!"_ Xigbar's voice fell silent.

Right on cue, the storm clouds around the corrupted dragon burst, revealing an entirely different creature. It had yellow wings covered in looping designs that fanned out to the sides of a fat, blue body. Four yellow horns on its head and two black ones at the bases of its wings each sparked with lightning. It had a ragged white beard with the Heartless' emblem branded on it right below its chin. Instead of four spindly legs, the Storm Rider had six weird appendages that looked like cymbals, meaning the Heartless had to remain airborne to move. When the cymbals crashed together, a cluster of bombs was summoned and fell to the ground, covering the Heartless dragon's escape. It flew straight toward the Imperial City.

Riku shook a fist at the departing dragon. "Argh! I can't stand that Xigbar!"

Lambda noted, "There's no way Sora didn't see that. He'll take care of the dragon, so we should focus on minimizing casualties."

"Good point, Lambda. We'll beat it to the city and warn whoever's in charge. Hold on tight." Riku grabbed Lambda's arm.

 **VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

 _The Land of Dragons: Palace Gates..._

"Affirmative - _WHOA!_ " Lambda's voice was ripped from her lungs as she suddenly found herself in front of the Imperial Palace. Rather than use a Dark Corridor, Riku had opted to simply fly to his destination with Darkness-enhanced speed, reaching his destination just shy of instantaneously. Lambda's arm felt sore from being yanked so hard, but any discomfort was already clearing up.

Riku chuckled sheepishly. "Sorry, dear. I've noticed we lose some random amount of time every time we go through a Dark Corridor, so I decided to handle travel on a single world with my own speed to make sure we aren't too late."

Lambda took a second to catch her breath, then nodded. "That's a smart decision, actually. I'll probably get used to it. Murakumo, deactivate." Her armor vanished, and she re-summoned her Black Coat in its place...and then bent over to yank off her boots. "Every time I summon my Black Coat, the boots come back. It doesn't take long to get rid of them, but it's a pain."

Riku chuckled at Lambda's antics, then turned toward the great doors to the palace. A large, bald man in blue armor stood in front of the gates, acting as the lone guard.

In the recently-achieved peacetime, Chien-Po was more than sufficient to guard the main entrance to the palace all by himself. He addressed the strangers, "You there, who are you? How did you simply appear in front of me?"

Riku used Ansem's voice. "Who we are isn't important, but we bring a warning. The palace is in danger."

"If what you say is true, then you had better speak to the Emperor or the General. I will allow you inside, but I will follow and watch. Show no disrespect in the Emperor's presence." Chien-Po lightly pulled on the handles of the gates, and the twenty-foot-high, two-foot-thick blocks of solid wood moved out of the way. No wonder this guy was the only one on guard!

"You heard him. Be on your best behavior, dear." Lambda wagged a finger playfully. These people weren't a concern; the threat was still on its way.

 **VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

 _Meanwhile, on the Mountain Trail..._

The Storm Rider was making solid progress toward the largest group of tasty hearts in this world, but the other Heartless didn't recognize it, and they tried to attack the vastly superior boss Heartless in hopes of taking its powerful captive heart and Darkness. These small fry weren't having much luck at dragon-slaying, of course. Most of them could be destroyed and harvested without even slowing the dragon down, but the Bolt Towers were immune to its lightning and flew too high to be hit by bombs, so the Storm Rider was sometimes forced to change course to destroy them with ramming attacks. Overall, the journey was taking longer than it should, giving both groups of heroes enough time to beat the dragon to its destination.

 **VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

 _In the Throne Room..._

"...And that's what we saw. Make sure everyone stays indoors when the dragon arrives."

The Emperor's head adviser nasally proclaimed, "We should ready our troops to combat this threat, Your Majesty!" Something about him seemed slimy to Riku, but it was unimportant.

Riku shook his head. "Normally, I would agree that fighting back would be your best chance. But not only is that thing too strong for any of you, there are three...wise guys...who just arrived and will definitely take care of it. Your troops would be better off maintaining order and keeping civilians out of the fight, so they won't be turned into more Heartless."

"To whom do you refer by 'wise guys'?" The Emperor asked.

"You've met them, I'm sure. Don't worry, this threat has nothing on Sora and his team."

 **VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

 _At the Checkpoint..._

Sora launched into another combination attack with Mulan. His party had run into her during his attempt to chase the man in the Black Coat (and also chase the woman who had removed hers and summoned all those swords), only to learn that Mulan had been in the mountains tracking a man with a similar description. Their attempt to compare stories had been cut short by the roar of a massive dragon Heartless, and they had been rushing to the Imperial City to warn everyone of its imminent arrival ever since.

In the meantime, Sora was getting practice with whatever power let him fly while attacking alongside his friends. Donald was almost jealous; he wanted to come up with a way to fly alongside Sora, but all the duck could come up with was a way to link Sora's mana to his and create LOTS of little rockets that flew around and blew up on enemies. The "Duck Flare" spell was certainly useful, but sitting on Sora's shoulders to draw on his mana just wasn't as cool as flying...

At last, all the Heartless in their way were defeated. Luckily, the dragon was somehow still behind them, looping around in a slow and inefficient flight path. Each loop still brought it closer to the city on average, but Sora was comfortably ahead of the monster by now, even with some Assault Riders getting in the way.

 **VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

 _Back in the Throne Room..._

General Shang angrily spoke up, "Do you mean to imply that the Chinese army is not strong enough to defend our people?" He drew his sword.

Riku sighed and summoned Soul Eater. "Fine, if you need proof...if you can land a hit on me before I defeat you, then you're definitely good enough to take on the Storm Rider. Come at me!"

Shang charged straight at the black-cloaked stranger. The officer's guard was in the right place, his balance was perfect, and his strength and speed were both impressive, but his enemy was in a whole other class of superhuman power. The enemy flickered and vanished from Shang's path, and the General was sent sprawling by a blunt hit to his back.

Shang considered getting up and trying again, but the Emperor admonished him. "Stand down, General. This stranger has proven his point."

Riku dismissed Soul Eater in a cloud of Darkness and turned to face the Emperor. "See? I'm not saying your army isn't strong or effective, but their job is to protect this world from its own problems. The Heartless came from other worlds, just like my friends, my girlfriend here, and myself. They're a bigger threat than any one world can handle. Luckily, Sora's here, and it's his job to fight the Heartless and other monsters from the Darkness across multiple worlds. As for you and your army, you should do what you can, but don't overextend yourself by trying to do Sora's job."

Lambda spoke up. "Scanning... He's actually at the gates. We should go, dear."

"Right. We're going now. You should take cover...and maybe prepare a celebration for when it's over. I have total confidence in those wise guys - they'll win." Riku formed a Dark Corridor back to Hollow Bastion, took Lambda's hand, and walked through.

 **VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

 _A/N: Darn it, I took a month to update again!_

 _The events of_ BlazBlue: Chronophantasma _are officially over. From here on, we'll follow a non-canon substitute for_ BlazBlue: Centralfiction. _My assumptions are based on what little info has been revealed in English while we wait for the game to be localized, but most of it is translated like the memetastically incomprehensible Zero Wing cutscene:_

 _How are you gentlemen? All your Azure are belong to us. You are on your way to the Doomsday._

 _Most of the news announcements looked like that. So I'm making up the facts as I go._

 _Namine left the party mostly to show that Sora's ability to keep a team together is unique. Not just anyone can hang around Donald Duck for such a long time! Also, Namine really isn't dressed for adventure. She'll still be around, just not in Riku's traveling party._


	23. No More Waiting

**Silver Linings**

 **Chapter 23: "No More Waiting."**

 _A/N: It took almost another whole month, but I've finally got the next chapter figured out! Word of advice: if you ever need to feel really, really **INSPIRED** ,watch _Gurren Lagann.

 **VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

 _Hollow Bastion: Borough..._

Riku and Lambda tumbled through a Dark Corridor and landed on top of a pile of Heartless. Reacting quickly, Riku cut them apart to reveal a woman in a pink dress who had been seconds away from having her heart stolen. Riku helped her stand up and asked her, "You're...Aerith, right?"

Aerith straightened up to try and peer under Riku's hood, but the darkness under the hood was the same sort of Darkness that created his Black Coat in the first place. It ensured that the wearer's face was totally obscured as long as the hood was up. "Yes, I am. But who are you?"

Riku hesitated. "I'm...well, I'm not with Organization XIII."

"That's not what I asked you to...look out!" Aerith pointed behind Riku at another group of Heartless.

Lambda took action. "Summoning Lux Sanctus. IDEA Engine linked. Murakumo, activate. Terminating all targets." Now fully armored, Lambda unleashed a barrage of swords that destroyed all the Heartless with a satisfying poppity-pop-pop sound. "Well, at least I'm still strong enough to deal with those weaklings, even if I only have a tiny bit of Darkness to power Murakumo."

"Speaking of those weaklings," Riku added, "Those weren't the usual kinds of Heartless, were they?"

Aerith shook her head. "No. When Sora unlocked another World Gate, there was a flash of Light that destroyed all of those. But then these versions started showing up. Cid thinks they're coming from Ansem's computer."

"That would explain the glowing lines on them," Riku agreed. "So what's the plan for dealing with them?"

"Cid thinks he can create a program with everything we'd need to delete the MCP coordinating the attack, but normally we'd send Sora to deliver it, and he's not here."

"MCP...that rings a bell. But yeah, Sora is still headed for...where is he now, Lambda?"

"Scanning...found. He's in Olympus Colosseum. He seems to be taking the same path he took in the first sweep of the worlds, but why?"

"It's 'cuz the worlds closed all their gates all of a sudden!" Cid interjected.

Riku whipped around to face the inventor. "Geez, stop sneaking up behind me!"

Lambda noted, "Well, that explains why he didn't follow the clues we gave him. It's not that he didn't figure it out. But if this keeps up, the Heartless will overrun everything before he can get back to Twilight Town, where we opened a path to Organization XIII's hideout."

"Really, who are you two?" Aerith insisted.

Cid scoffed. "I'll do the introductions. That kid'll never work up the nerve on his own. But this is time I could be spending on writing that program, y'hear? She's Lambda, who popped up from some other universe or something.

"Another universe?" Aerith marveled.

Cid waved her off. "Eh, stranger things have happened. He's Riku. The same Riku who Sora's out to find. He got in a spot of trouble and now he looks like Ansem, so he thinks Sora will attack him on sight or something. So Riku and his girlfriend here have been going to a lot of trouble to help Sora without letting Sora know he's helping."

"Well, couldn't you just explain what happened, then show him? Why would you put it off longer?" Aerith wondered.

"That's what I asked him," Lambda replied. "It makes no sense to hide it, especially in these circumstances." She turned and flicked Riku's nose. "You know, dear, there's following your heart, and then there's being an idiot. It's time to stop running away - is Sora really that scary?"

Riku looked down at his feet. "All it took was one look and my bravado just shattered. I don't think I can do it."

Lambda thought for a moment, then replied with a teasing grin. "Well, there's something you told me about once that always works in situations like this. 'Giving up already? C'mon, Riku. I thought you were stronger than that!'"

"You...you're right." Riku straightened up. "It's time for a new plan. No more running away. No more waiting. Let's go to Sora!" With a confident thrust of his hand, Riku summoned a Dark Corridor, then swept Lambda up into a bridal carry and marched through, entirely unimpeded by the Realm of Darkness' attempts to hold him back or throw him off course.

 **VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

 _Olympus Colosseum: Coliseum (Ruined)..._

Sora clasped his hands behind his head in satisfaction. Another world, another set of friends saved! "So, Phil, are we real heroes yet?"

"Let's see... You're not...tall enough, not...seasoned enough..."

The newly-reinvigorated Hercules clapped Phil on the back, accidentally sending the pint-sized satyr sprawling. "C'mon, Phil, even you have to admit they've earned it."

"Well, I don't see a picture of those rookies up in the stars, do you?"

Megara looked up and gasped. "Actually..."

Overhead, the sun had just set behind Mount Olympus, showing off a blaze of stars. And a bunch of them swirled around until they settled into a highly detailed connect-the-dots image of Sora, Donald, and Goofy! In case there was any doubt of the divine approval being communicated here, the whole image was briefly filled in with full color.

Phil's jaw dug another few inches underground as Sora, Donald, and Goofy jumped for joy and cheered.

...And then a Dark Corridor showed up, ruining the moment. Sora immediately summoned the Kingdom Key and got into a battle stance, but relaxed a bit when he saw the newcomer's arms were full.

"Riku! I haven't even dismissed Murakumo! I could've cut you!"

"Nah, I'm stronger than that."

Donald and Goofy, overhearing this, were gobstruck. Sora recovered a few seconds faster than them; just enough to yell, "RIKU?!"

"Yeah, it's me...well, sort of. There was this - OOMPH!" Riku was interrupted by Sora tackling him with a totally non-manly hug, complete with tears streaming down the younger boy's face.

Between sobs, Sora gulped out, "Riku, where were you?"

"Well...I was avoiding you. I didn't want to be found."

"But you did leave that box of clues for us, right?" Goofy wondered, having regained some composure.

Riku smirked. "I was worried you guys didn't even know those were clues, but it looks like there was a good reason for going this way first. Yeah, that was me...no, it was us. Sora, I'd like you to meet Lambda. Technically, her designation is Lambda-11...but artificial life-form or not, Lambda's my girlfriend. We met in the Realm of Darkness and we've been together ever since...and then we ended up, well, together-together."

"Well, congratulations, Riku!" Donald cheered.

"Nice to meetcha, Lambda! I'm Goofy! This is Donald, and I guess Riku must've told ya about Sora, right?"

Lambda nodded, "Yes, Riku and a few others told me everything I need to know about Sora."

Riku looked down awkwardly. "Speaking of Sora...are you going to cry into my coat all day?"

Sora continued to sob, but managed to get out, "I looked for you! I looked everywhere for you!"

"I told you...I didn't want to be found. Here's why." Riku removed his hood.

The shock of seeing Ansem's face, hearing Riku's voice coming from Ansem's mouth, actually stopped Sora from crying. "But...Ansem?"

"No, it's still me. I had to use the Power of Darkness to its fullest, and to do that, I had to take the form of Ansem, who gave all that Darkness to me."

"Can you change back?" Goofy wondered.

Riku sighed, "There's probably a way, but I don't know how. And until we sort out this mess with Organization XIII, I'm still going to need the Power of Darkness."

Sora yelped, "That's right! The Organization...they kidnapped Kairi!"

Riku nodded seriously. "I know. That's why I left you the box of clues; I couldn't wait for you to just end up in Twilight Town, not if Kairi's in danger. But now that I think about it, if I'm with you, we could just take a Corridor of Darkness right to the Organization's homeworld, rather than bother with the route we set up in Twilight Town."

"Then let's go!"

"I'd love to, but your friends in Hollow Bastion need your help again..." Riku relayed the problem to Sora.

"Oh no...Tron!"

Riku tilted his head; who was Tron? Well, at least Sora knew what was going on, then. "Don't worry. We'll make a quick stop in Hollow Bastion, fix that problem, then we'll storm The Castle That Never Was." Riku turned back toward the Dark Corridor, which had been open the whole time.

Donald yelled, "Wait! What about the Gummi Ship?!"

"Oh, yeah, I almost forgot! We can't just leave that here. Riku, you go on ahead. We'll catch up in the Gummi Ship!"

The local residents of Olympus Colosseum had been watching on the sidelines while Pegasus doggedly prevented any of them from interfering, but now the flying horse stood aside and allowed Meg to speak. "So, is the touching reunion over? Well, you go get 'em, tiger...s. A hero's work is never done and all that, right?"

"Right! Don't worry, we'll be safe! And we'll come back someday! I gotta defend my championship in the Games!"

Riku chuckled. "It's good to see you haven't changed much, waterworks aside. See you soon, Sora!" He and Lambda walked hand in hand through the Dark Corridor.

As the portal closed, Lambda's voice echoed, "Murakumo, deactivate. I almost forgot...!"

Sora, Donald, and Goofy gave one last cheeky grin to Hercules and their other friends, then teleported back to the Gummi Ship to set a direct course for Hollow Bastion.

 **VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

 _Hollow Bastion: Borough..._

Riku looked left and right as he and Lambda exited the Dark Corridor, but he only saw a few techno-Heartless wandering about. "If this is like every other time, then this is the part where..."

"Well, how'd it - Gah, let me go!" Cid struggled to free his collar from Riku's iron grip.

"You won't get the jump on me this time, Cid. The plan worked, by the way. Sora's on his way here to help, and then I'll bring us to Organization XIII's stronghold. I guess we'll leave Sora's Gummi Ship with you."

"You can count on me for anything about Gummi Ships! But watch out, the Claymore Defense System I set up went out of...DODGE!" Cid shoved Riku into Merlin's house, leaving Lambda to backdash away from a sparking Claymore energy sphere that tried to target her.

She rushed into the house and slammed the door. "They got hacked by the MCP, I guess?"

Merlin griped from a seat at his workshop table, "It serves this fool right for essentially creating a robot army. Robot armies never work as intended and you know it."

The two old-timers firmly turned their backs on each other. "Ah, stuff it. I've got an MCP Eradication Program to complete."

"Well, work faster, then!"

"We'll defend the town until it's ready," Riku offered. "Do you think it'll be done before Sora gets-"

BAM! The door opened and slammed to admit Sora into the house behind the "Great Ninja" Yuffie.

"Guess not," Lambda noted.

"Don't worry, we'll handle it!" Sora asserted. "I'll go into the system again and get things straightened out with Tron. Can you send the program later?"

Cid nodded sharply. "Yep! Tell Tron to wait at the I/O Tower for the transfer. Now get going! Leon's holding down the fort at the computer room, but who knows how long that'll last!"

Riku shooed Sora out the door. "Go on, Sora. Your friends are waiting." Everyone present waved him off, including Donald and Goofy.

Lambda shoved the dog and duck outside, where they landed in a heap. "You're going, too!"

"Sora! Wait for us!" The Disney Castle duo charged off down the street.

Lambda shut the door. "Before we go, I want to ask how Namine's doing. We'll be heading to the _World That Never Was_ soon...how do I know what it's called? Anyway, Kairi's being held there, so this is Namine's best chance to fuse back together."

Merlin chuckled. "She already left to do just that, my dear. You should thank her when you see her again; she's been using her power to keep the Organization's spies from discovering your work in Twilight Town, rewriting their reports and obscuring their memories."

Riku was a little worried for Namine's safety, but very impressed by her foresight and help. "Really? I'll be sure to thank her, then. In hindsight, Xigbar must have known about that. But is he listening in right now?"

Merlin chortled merrily. "Not if he knows what's good for him! He's run afoul of my traps several times now."

 **VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

 _Meanwhile, in The Castle That Never Was..._

Xigbar ran and hunched over a sink, harshly scrubbing his good eye to remove the disgusting image of Sai'x giving Xemnas bedroom eyes and moving in for a tender kiss... "Argh, screw that wizard! Why would he even suggest that!? No way! As if!"

 **VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

 _Back with Riku..._

Merlin cautioned, "You won't be able to return to The World That Never Was through a Dark Corridor. Xemnas has secured his fortress against you, although even I cannot discern the means he used. However, the portal you maintained will still work. After this fight, make haste to Twilight Town!"

Riku nodded. "Sure. But right now, we've got some Heartless to slay. C'mon, Lambda!"

"Affirmative. Switching to Battle Mode."

"...Oops."

"No big deal! I was going to do that anyway. Summoning Lux Sanctus."

 **VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

 _Defeat all of the Heartless!_

After fully arming themselves, Riku and Lambda charged out Merlin's door and straight through a group of _Strafers_. The yellow-lined, computer-generated Heartless moved in highly predictable clockwise circles and only occasionally attacked with homing ring-shaped lasers, which could be blocked at any point on the circle to negate the projectile. The only problem was the Claymores, which forced the pair to stay on their toes.

Well, Lambda was always on her tiptoes inside her Battle Mode leg blades anyway...which might explain why Riku was the first one to be launched into the air by a Claymore. Far from becoming vulnerable to a follow-up attack, though, Riku recovered his balance in midair and used the extra height for a counterattack. "Dark Break!"

"Save some for me! Spike Chaser!" A line of swords poked out of the ground one by one, starting at Lambda's feet and ending underneath a large, purple _Devastator._ The Heartless survived the first hit, but it couldn't survive Lambda's favorite hovering, juggling Sword Summoner combo. She landed leg blades-first on a red-lined _Magnum Roader,_ knocking it off its single wheel.

Riku cut through the hapless Heartless and five of its fellows with Zantetsuken - these foes were so weak that they popped before he could see if the instant-kill effect worked this time or not.

Soon there was a lull in the fighting. The Heartless seemed to be drawn toward the old castle; Sora must have had the MCP worried. Riku pointed in that direction. "Let's head off the Heartless at the castle!"

"I'll go with you," came a calm male voice from Merlin's doorway. "The name's Leon. I'm going to bring the completed MCP Eradication Program to the computer room. I'm no pushover, but I'd appreciate your help to get there." Leon waved a CD to make his point, while hoisting a decently-oversized sword with a gun for a hilt in his other leather-gloved hand. There was a keychain dangling off the handle of the gun, but it was just for decoration.

"Sure, Leon, I can do that," Riku agreed. "Let's go!"

 **VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

 _Reach Ansem's computer room while protecting Leon!_

It turned out that Leon didn't need much protecting. Before moving on, the gunblade wielder channeled a massive amount of mana into his weapon and coated it with an aura of energy, more than doubling the length and power of the blade.

Riku groaned. "Aw, man, I thought my Bladecharge was original! Well, I guess I should practice it more." He glanced at Lambda, who gave him a gentle smile beneath her Battle Mode visor. Then he pumped his desire to protect that smile into Soul Eater, activating Bladecharge with less than half the delay from the first time. "Alright, Leon, let's get them!" The two warriors charged forward and carved a path through the throngs of data Heartless in their way.

Lambda tried to keep up with them, wondering aloud, "If I'm the living sword around here, then how come _I'm_ the only one who can't make a huge energy sword to swing around?" She compensated by providing projectile support from the back lines. Giant lightsabers were cool and all, but Lambda always had the longest range with her own swords. Most of the Strafers and Magnum Roaders in the group's path didn't last long enough to be destroyed by the Bladecharge users. Before long, the three of them had carved through all the Heartless and reached Ansem's secret lab.

 **VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

 _Ansem's Study/Computer Room..._

When the warriors arrived in Ansem's high-tech computer room, they were surprised to find that Aerith was the only one on guard. Leon asked her, "Wasn't Cloud here when I left?"

Aerith replied sadly, "He didn't say why he was leaving, but you know how he is."

Leon facepalmed. "Ugh. Well, the Eradication Program is complete. Now we've got to get the system to load it..." He walked up to the terminal and pressed a few keys, only to be greeted by a loud beep and a synthesized voice.

 _"You are not authorized to use this system. User control has been terminated indefinitely. This is your final warning."_ Leon banged the sides of the keyboard in frustration.

Aerith gracefully stepped over to the keyboard. "Leon, can I try?"

Leon shrugged and handed her the CD. "Well, I don't see how you could make things worse than this..."

"Here you go!" With a cheerful smile, Aerith daintily inserted the MPC Eradication Program CD into a slot that was obviously designed for CDs and let the disc slide into the drive. A whirring sound could be heard as it spun up to the proper speed.

 _"What?! User! What are you loading?"_ The MCP's unusually worried tone made Riku smirk from his spot on the sidelines.

"Don't talk with your mouth full!" Aerith chided the terminal. She turned to Leon and pumped her fist in celebration. "It worked!"

"If by 'worked' you mean it made me look stupid," Leon grumbled halfheartedly. "Well, it's all up to Sora now."

Riku spoke up. "Don't worry. He's got this."

Indeed, the terminal started reacting almost immediately. Pop-ups moved around the screens randomly, saying things like _"ERROR MCP MUST RULE ALL"_ or _"MCP ERADICATION 50% COMPLETE"_ or _"FAILED TO DELETE EXECUTABLE 'TRON'."_ Finally, the screen turned blue and informed them that _"A new OS is being installed to replace the MCP, which was deemed corrupted and has been permanently deleted. Please wait while the system backs up important data files..."_

Riku was impressed. "Okay, I knew Sora worked fast, but this is ridiculous."

Lambda reminded him, "He's inside a computer. Of course he'll get his tasks done faster; the world in there probably moves in machine time."

Right on cue, a massive red device on the opposite wall of the room hummed to life, un-digitizing Sora, Donald, and Goofy in a spray of blue lights. Leon looked over and congratulated them, but Sora looked sad.

"We deleted the MCP, but Tron vanished."

 _"Hey, is this thing working? Can you hear me?"_ A new voice came from the terminal's speakers.

Sora ran over to the terminal. "Tron! Are you okay?"

 _"I'm better than just okay! I had to jump into the Core to get a new setup working. All the problems the MCP caused should be fixed now. I'm sorry if I made you worry."_

Yuffie barged into the room. "Everything's calmed down in town! Great work, you guys!"

 _"The system should be fine now. It'll be what it was meant to be: a system designed to help you, the Users. And I've found a special program here; a hologram of the town as it looked when it was first built! Step outside and see!"_

The terminal suddenly shone with way more Light than the various screens should have been able to produce. Yuffie immediately grabbed Aerith's arm, who grasped Leon's hand, who grabbed Riku's wrist, who caught Lambda around the waist, while Sora, Donald, and Goofy clung to her legs. All of them were dragged outside by Yuffie's boundless enthusiasm.

 **VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

 _Outside..._

By the time the defenders of Hollow Bastion got themselves untangled from each other at the balcony of the Castle Postern, Tron had come through on his promise. Sora stared wide-eyed at what the town looked like before the Heartless came.

The half-rebuilt town was covered in a hologram of a massive, opulent city. The castle was connected to the city by a road leading north. Clean streets weaved through several open-air gardens on the west side of the city.

The east side of the city had nice-looking suburbs and a massive, multi-leveled display of fountains, fed by an extensive system of utilities such as a power plant and drainage system that ran beneath the whole city, though even the work areas were clean and pretty.

The whole city was ringed by a tall wall that didn't proclaim "Keep out" so much as "This place is worth protecting", and outside the wall was a huge garden of beautiful flowers in every color of the rainbow. The air seemed to shimmer, both with effect the hologram and the abundant Light that used to bless this place.

Leon murmured, "That's right..."

Yuffie yelped, "How could I have forgotten?!"

Far away, Merlin stormed outside and away from Cid, only to stop and gaze in wonder. "...I would like to ascertain when the town got such a drab name as 'Hollow Bastion'..."

Eventually, the hologram flickered and vanished.

Aerith turned to the pair and trio of world-travelers. "You know, this town had another name once."

Sora asked, "Really? What was it?"

With a faraway smile, Aerith replied, "Radiant Garden."

Leon grimaced, but a little less so than usual. "That's what the Restoration Committee wants to restore, and perhaps even surpass. I'm sure we'll all work harder than ever to make that vision a reality someday." 

"Well, duh!" Yuffie was getting pumped. "I'll start by fixing up our membership cards with the town's real name! I'll be right back!" She poofed into smoke, then immediately poofed back. "I'm right back! Here, you guys! Welcome to the Radiant Garden Restoration Committee!" She passed out cards to Sora, Donald, and Goofy, and two more for Riku and Lambda. "Um, you _are_ the Lambda Riku mentioned a while back, right? I just want to make sure I got the right card."

"Yes, that's me." To Riku, she giggled and added, "It's a good thing you didn't tell her my full name. I don't think it would have fit on this card. 'Hello, my name is Boundary Interface Prime...darn, ran out of space.'"

Riku laughed louder than he had in a while. With a teasing smirk, he asked, "Oh, so you can make fun of your name, but I can't?"

"Well, it's _my_ name," Lambda pointed out

"Good point." Riku turned to address Leon. "Anyway, Sora and I have to go. Kairi's out there waiting for us, and we have to deal with Organization XIII."

A voice came on over Lambda's external speakers. _"Don't worry about your Gummi Ship, Sora! It's in good hands!"_

Lambda yelped, "Cid, did you hack into my communicator?!"

 _"It wasn't that hard; this Ars Magus stuff isn't too different from my Magitek. Don't worry, though; all I could do was learn the frequency to call you. Your security's a tough nut to crack, kid! Now go stick it to the Organization for us!"_ Cid disconnected with an audible crackling sound.

Riku nodded, realizing too late that Cid couldn't see or hear him. "Right. Merlin says we'll have to go through the portal we made in Twilight Town, so that's our next stop. Ready, Sora?" Riku formed a Dark Corridor.

"You know it!" Sora charged through ahead of the others, followed by Donald and Goofy.

Lambda gazed after them. "Will they end up in the right place?"

Riku groaned. "Ugh, that's just like Sora; always rushing in without thinking about the danger. Well, the Darkness has nothing on him. Let's not keep him waiting, then." Hand in hand, the pair set off into Twilight Town.

 **VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

 _A/N: Done! I'm still keeping up with a chapter per month!_

 _I was asked by one of my reviewers whether any significant divergence from canon would take place soon. We have been pretty closely following the canon storyline so far, but how's this for you? Things will go further off the rails from here. Try as it might, the World can't make Lambda or those around her keep following Xehanort's script._


	24. The Organization Will Destroy You

**Silver Linings**

 **Chapter 24: "The Organization Will Destroy You."**

 _A/N: I missed the self-imposed monthly deadline...but here it is! Let's get ready for Xigbar and the Absent Silhouettes! Hey, that sounds like a rock band..._

 **VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

 _Twilight Town: The Old Mansion..._

Riku and Lambda appeared in the front garden of the old mansion, as planned, but Sora wasn't there. Riku groaned. "Lambda, can you figure out where Sora is?"

"Scanning...good, he's still on this world, but he showed up at the Station Plaza instead. Let's get over there."

Riku held out an arm. "Right. Hold on tight."

Lambda grabbed on to the offered limb. "Acknowle-"

 **VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

 _Twilight Town: Station Plaza..._

"-Gkk!" Riku's Darkness-enhanced speed covered the distance in less time than it took Lambda to bite her tongue. "Ow..."

Riku yanked his arm out of Lambda's grip in a hurry. "Sorry about that!"

Lambda calmed down and set her auto-repair to fix her tongue. "At least we made it here on time." Sora, Donald, and Goofy were all here, and thankfully they were still in a group.

Sora asked, "Riku, where'd you run off to?"

Riku rolled his eyes. "I should be asking you that. Dark Corridors are dangerous! You all could have gotten separated, lost on the wrong world, or worse!"

"Oh, right. So why do you use them, then?"

"Necessity, mostly." Riku leaned in and whispered to Sora, "And it's a good excuse to hold hands with Lambda."

"You thought so, too?" Lambda called over. "Amplified hearing, remember?"

Riku facepalmed. "Oh, right. Well, the less secrets between us, the better, I guess."

 _"Then you'll love this!"_ Xigbar again?!

A Dark Corridor opened near the ramp down to Market Street, admitting Xigbar through. The first thing the sniper did was yell in no particular direction, "Xemnas! Anytime you're ready!"

Seven clouds of grayish...something...formed in a half-circle behind Xigbar. Each anomaly was about twice as large as a Grandstander ball, and each one had a silhouette of a familiar weapon floating inside it.

Xigbar indicated them all with a sweeping gesture. "I'd like you to meet the Absent Silhouettes! See, even 'Nothing' is something, and that's the exotic matter Nobodies are made of. When any of you punks beats a Nobody, their willpower goes who-knows-where, while their Nothing poofs all over the place, leaving it in Xemnas' power.

"He lucked out with getting Nothing as his element - he can gather up the Nothing from a defeated Organization member, stick it back together, and send it out again! Too bad they're mostly mindless shells now, but they actually pack _more_ power than they used to! And the Superior let us break out the big guns by equipping 'Pandora's Gear' weapon Panels! Have fun, kids!"

Xigbar vanished into a space pocket as the Absent Silhouettes morphed into familiar enemies wearing Black Coats. _"I'll be watching, so don't die too quickly! Now, everyone take your positions!"_

 **VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

 _Twilight Town: Sandlot..._

Lambda reappeared in the Sandlot, having been forcibly teleported by Xigbar's space powers. Two of the Absent Silhouettes were there, too. Lambda scanned them. "Target designations: _A.S. Number III_ and _A.S. Number XII._ No combat data from previous encounters found. Threat levels: both S-tier."

"Whoa, when did you punks get here?" Seifer called from the side of the Sandlot - he and the rest of the Disciplinary Committee were in the middle of training to defend the town when the newcomers arrived.

Lambda looked over and nodded appreciatively at Seifer's much-improved stance and real katana. "Hey, Seifer! Remember me? I fought off the Powered Armor with Riku. Looks like you've been keeping up with your training!"

Fuu picked up a blue chakram which was studded with curled blades designed to look like gusts of wind. "Ready."

Rai smashed his fists together, releasing sparks of Thunder magic. "We've been waiting for something like this, y'know?"

Seifer grinned over his shoulder at his fellow Committee members. "Darn right we have! Fuu, Rai, you take the lady with the weird hair. I'll join Lambda against Dreadlocks over here."

Rai jumped all the way to the other side of the Sandlot and got into a boxing stance. "I got this, y'know?"

Fuu merely nodded, then vanished in a swirl of wind, reappearing slightly behind Rai.

Xigbar's harsh chuckle was heard from somewhere above them. _"Okay, have it your way! But no switching up later!"_ Dark Barriers formed, splitting the Sandlot down the middle and sealing all exits.

Lambda took all this in, then glared at A.S. Number III, the Absent Silhouette of Xaldin. "Summoning Lux Sanctus! IDEA Engine linked! Murakumo, activate!"

Seifer laughed and settled into a ready position on Lambda's right side. "Right on! There's the sword-slinging Lambda I remember! This'll be fun!"

 **VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

 _Fight a battle royale alongside the defenders of Twilight Town!_

 _Defeat all of the Absent Silhouettes!_

 **VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

 _Seifer and Lambda: Defeat A.S. Number III (Xaldin)! Find a way to breach his defenses!_

"Where's the fun in this?!" A.S. Number III growled, summoning not one, not two, but SIX identical lances. Each one had a red, black, and gold color scheme. Number III grasped two lances in his right hand, one in his left, and set the remaining three lances dancing on wind currents around him. "Wind, guard me!" A swirl of green-glowing wind formed a shield around him, and he floated into the air.

"So they can say phrases that are strongly associated with them...of course, that just means we can read what he's about to do." Lambda smirked under her Cyclopean visor and locked on. "I'll try to smash through his shield. Calamity Sword!" The massive, green sword fell from above Number III, but did no damage. However, it did knock the Absent Silhouette down to ground level.

Seifer dashed forward, katana drawn back for a horizontal swing. "Eh, good enough. Time for me to show off! _Zantetsuken!_ " Seifer suddenly went through a burst of speed, seeming to vanish and reappear behind Number III. "...Gotcha!" The Aero shield around Number III shattered and vanished.

"..." Number III, who was still unharmed, turned to face Seifer. All six of his lances enlarged to twice their original size and circled up around him, pointing straight at Seifer.

"Watch out, Seifer! Act Parcer!" Lambda used her teleport dash, ending up between Seifer and Number III. Her Petal blades came up as a wall to block the incoming lances just in time. The lances and the ex-Nobody all staggered back and hung in midair for an extended moment. Meanwhile, the wind that had been swirling around Number III blew away...reforming around Fuu in the next battlefield over.

"Thanks! One more time - ZANTETSUKEN!" This time, the lunging slice cut Number III clean in half. Both halves dissolved into Nothing and blew away on the wind. Seifer struck a pose. "Nice, huh? I've been training to perfect that move ever since Riku used it last time we saw him! Speaking of Riku, where is he?"

"He's in town, fighting more of those things. Sora's here, too. I wish we could help Fuu and Rai with their fight, so we could get out of here and find them."

Seifer waved off Lambda's concerns and turned to watch the fight on the other side of the Sandlot. "No worries. The Committee is a bit overspecialized, but this particular match-up makes it pay off!"

 **VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

 _Rai and Fuu: Defeat A.S. Number XII (Larxene)! Outsmart and overpower her!_

Fuu and Rai quickly learned that _A.S. Number XII's_ elaborately-decorated kunai knives were charged with lightning, making it dangerous to block them. On the other hand, that same lightning made all of the A.S.'s attacks nearly useless against Rai. The big guy had taken to Thunder magic like a bird to the sky, even though other magic types still didn't make any sense to him. Number XII's electricity only charged him up.

The Disciplinary Committee's brains and brawn quickly established a pattern: Fuu baited Number XII into attacking, then ducked behind Rai, who smacked the A.S. aside. Then Fuu would move in for a quick hit with her chakram and duck back out of the way of Number XII's retaliation. Lather, rinse, repeat. A mindless target like this couldn't avoid having her pattern exploited!

This pattern was working fine until Number XII growled, "You're getting on my nerves!" She then split into two clones and switched up her attack pattern. Rai punched one, but it simply vanished; three more clones appeared around him, then lunged in unison to deliver some nasty cuts. The lightning charging those kunai allowed Rai to buffer most of the damage, but Fuu wasn't so lucky; standing behind Rai didn't help much when he was surrounded. Fuu wasn't the type to respond to pain (or anything else), though - she took the blow like a champ and kept a red eye out for the real Number XII.

One of the clones was simply standing off to the side, watching the fight; Fuu lunged toward it, only for all the clones to simultaneously disappear. Five clones reappeared in a line for another lunge. Fuu jumped over the surging clones, and Rai swept two of them aside with his beefy arm, but there seemed to be no end to this.

"These clones keep coming, y'know? We need a plan, y'know?"

"Tornado." Fuu tapped into her magic (which was as aligned with Aero as Rai's was with Thunder) and threw her chakram, surrounding it with a massive tornado. Fuu jumped up and perched on Rai's shoulders, where she concentrated on controlling the gale. Sand, bits of wood, and all the clones of Number XII were sucked into the vortex and pulled together, fusing the clones back together and leaving only the original, who started being battered by the swirling debris. At that moment, wind from Number III began to swirl around Fuu's feet, obscuring Rai's vision.

Rai whipped his head left and right, nearly dislodging Fuu from her perch. "What's goin' on, Fuu? I can't see anything, y'know?"

Fuu jumped off Rai's shoulders, looked over at the other battlefield, and made eye contact with Seifer and Lambda. "Thanks." Fuu channeled the wind swirling around her to speed up, then leaped straight at her own tornado, which she could maintain while moving for now. She caught the chakram inside and spun with it, assailing Number XII with kicks and slices.

"Don't leave me behind, y'know? Time for some good, old-fashioned punching, y'know?" Rai punched the ground with a Thunder-charged fist, launching himself forward. Then he slammed the other, uncharged fist into Number XII's face. The Absent Silhouette was slammed into the wall of the Sandlot, where she slumped to the ground and faded away into Nothing.

Rai punched the air. "Yeah, we got one, y'know?"

Fuu nodded and gave Rai a rare smile. "Teamwork."

The Dark Barriers around the Sandlot fell. Seifer pointed toward Tram Common. "C'mon! There are more of those things out there, and all of them need a stern reprimand from the Disciplinary Committee! Lambda, you can be an honorary member."

Lambda giggled. "I'll pass, but thanks for the offer. Scanning...it looks like there are fights going on in Tram Common and in the woods. We'll have to go through Tram Common first."

Rai ran off ahead. "Then let's go, y'know? I wonder if Vivi got caught up in it, y'know?" The rest of the Committee (and Lambda) followed.

 **VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

 _The battle royale continues in Tram Common - keep going!_

 **VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

 _Vivi: Defeat Lexaeus! Magic over muscle!_

Indeed, Vivi was caught in a battle against _A.S. Number V,_ the remnant of Lexaeus. The young Black Mage was alone, which seemed like a positively unfair fight. Or it would have been, if Number V could ever come close to landing a hit on Vivi.

The kid was all over the place with nimble dodges. He cartwheeled out of the way of an overhead slice and responded with Gravity magic. This had no real effect on Number V, who swung his oddly-shaped, giant tomahawk, "Cardinal Virtue", diagonally upward as he turned. Vivi enlarged his Mage's Staff (of the same generic make as Donald's favored weapon) and blocked, staggering the Absent Silhouette.

While the A.S. pulled its existence back together, Vivi charged a massive Fire spell. In a squeaky voice that didn't see much use, he called out, "Mega Flare!"

Lambda took note of the way the other Disciplinarians ducked and covered their heads as a large, round fireball floated toward Number V. "Is this spell THAT powerful?"

A second later, Lambda's question was answered. Yes. Yes it was. Only the Dark Barrier around Vivi's battle contained the blast, and the barrier _shattered_ under the power of the spell. Every inch of the enclosed space was bathed in intense flames; Lambda's analysis showed a uniform temperature of 9,999 Kelvins. Needless to say, A.S. Number V did not survive the attack.

Vivi turned toward Seifer, and despite the Black Mage's face being totally obscured in shadow, he clearly wore the cutest little grin of pride Lambda had ever seen. "Did you see that, Seifer? I beat him!" Vivi waddled over to the other Disciplinarians, but stumbled as he got close; that spell had drained all his mana, and he was left very tired.

Seifer bent down to catch the little mage as he tripped over his big shoes. "Great work, Vivi. Get some rest; you've earned it."

Rai clapped the mage on the back as he passed. "How did little Vivi get so tough, y'know?"

"Practice." Fuu had seen the boy practicing spells in the tunnels before, growing more powerful every time she saw him. Since no one had asked her where Vivi went sometimes, she certainly hadn't volunteered to talk about it.

Looking ahead, Lambda noticed Zexion's book floating in midair all by itself inside another Dark Barrier. Her scans couldn't find Riku; he had to be in Zexion's illusory world. But there was another battle between Lambda and the book.

 **VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

 _Pence and Lambda: Defeat A.S. Number IV (Vexen)! Turn the tables with new tricks!_

Pence, the short, stocky member of the Usual Suspects, was caught in a battle against _A.S. Number IV,_ the remnant of Vexen. Lambda noticed the Absent Silhouette had set a familiar targeting circle under Pence's feet. Lambda called out a warning. "Watch out! He's gathering data on how to beat you! Come to think of it, how do you even fight?"

Pence merely grinned back at her. "I dunno who you are, but watch and learn! This just means I have time to make the final adjustments..." He picked up one end of a cylindrical device at his feet and started messing with it with a screwdriver.

Lambda was justifiably more worried than Pence. "If this goes like when I fought Vexen, the data isn't what that kid needs to worry about yet. I wish I could punch through this barrier to help..."

Rai barked out a laugh. "Ha! If you need something punched, I'm your man, y'know? THUNDER PUNCH, Y'KNOW?" Rai slugged the Dark Barrier at full force with a right straight punch charged with lightning, granting him incredible strength (and dealing Thunder damage, of course). The barrier bent inward and broke in a jagged patch.

"Act Parcer! Thanks, Rai!" Lambda teleport dashed through the hole before Xigbar could seal it back up.

"Don't mention it, y'know?" Rai waved Lambda off.

Seifer rallied his crew together. "We'll see to the safety of the people. You can handle it from here, right?"

Lambda couldn't respond - she'd gotten between Number IV and his target, broken Number IV's line of sight, and had been frozen in the Usual Suspect's stead by Vexen's reincarnated ice powers. Lambda was left encased in a block of ice twice her size, just like the time she'd fought Vexen in Castle Oblivion.

 _Brr...it's cold, and I can't move! But I won't let this jerk stop me so easily a second time! Defining custom targeting algorithm...Calamity Sword!_

Without moving or speaking (at least, she couldn't be heard through the ice), Lambda created a wormhole over her own head, dropping a large sword on the iceberg surrounding her. The attack didn't fall all the way to the ground this time, so it didn't hurt Lambda, but it did free her head and torso.

"Editing attack path...Sickle Storm!" A wave of Lambda's hand created a spinning saw that sheared the outermost parts of the iceberg away as it traced a tight circle around her, leaving the ice thin enough for her to shatter it completely with Murakumo's enhanced strength.

Number IV had switched his data-collection target to Lambda during the interesting display of her powers. "Data collection successful! Come forth, Anti-Lambda!" Number IV's new shield, "Aegis" (which would have had far too many holes to be practical as a defense if not for its magic), glowed blue for a moment, and a black orb formed in front of the shield. In the space of two seconds, the orb took the shape of Lambda, creating a pitch-black copy of the 11th Prime Field Device with a single yellow eye where Murakumo's visor would be.

Pence spoke up from behind Lambda. "There, the modifications are done! Thanks for the distraction! Now let's see how this 'Anti-Lambda' likes my StreetSweeper 3000!"

Lambda face-faulted. "You named it 'StreetSweeper 3000?' Seriously, what kind of name is - ack! Attack evaded." Number IV merely stood there, grating on everyone's ears with an infuriating cackle, but Anti-Lambda dashed forward with a perfect mimic of Lambda's Act Parcer Zwei: Blade move. The real Lambda was forced to jump sideways to dodge the attack.

"Hey - don't hate, innovate! Aaand click!" Pence hefted his cylinder, pointing a hole at the end at Anti-Lambda. An intense vortex took hold of the dark copy, sucking it into the cylinder and swallowing the fake Lambda whole. On the side of the device, three yellow lights blinked on.

"Okay, let's see what we've got here... Legacy Edge!" Pence pulled a trigger. One of the three indicator lights turned off, and a green wormhole formed in front of the StreetSweeper's barrel. Forty small daggers launched toward Number IV, but any blade that would have hit him merely pinged off of Aegis as it hovered in front of the Absent Silhouette. Even the daggers that should have gone through the holes in the shield's design were deflected.

"Darn. Well, let's try this one. Calamity Sword!" Pence aimed above Number IV's head and pulled the trigger again. Another indicator light turned off. This time, a wormhole formed over Number IV's head and dropped a large green sword right onto his entirely unprotected noggin.

As he was shoved to the ground, Number IV made a vocalization that sounded like a cross between a little girl squealing and a turkey squawking. Lambda couldn't help but laugh out loud at the hilarious sound of ex-Vexen in pain. "Nice work! I guess the StreetSweeper 3000 isn't such a dumb device after all!"

Pence grinned. "Yep, I designed it to suck up a Heartless and use up the Darkness that formed the monster to launch up to three of its attacks. The attacks are voice-activated, of course, because it's cooler that way!"

Lambda nodded sagely. "I agree, calling your attacks is cool...well, unless the enemy can predict your attacks by their names."

Pence leveled the StreetSweeper at Number IV's shield. "Don't worry, this guy's just a mindless shell. Now I'll put those last-minute adjustments into effect and suck up objects made of Nothing! First, I'll get rid of the old ammo..." The StreetSweeper's final indicator light blinked off as the last bit of Darkness from Anti-Lambda was expelled through a side vent.

"Aaand _click!_ " Aegis was sucked into the StreetSweeper's barrel, leaving Number IV defenseless. "I doubt his own attacks will do anything but heal him. Can you finish him off...um, I guess your name is Lambda? I'm Pence, by the way." Icy mist blew out of the StreetSweeper's vents as Pence discarded the Nothing that used to make up Aegis.

Lambda laid a hand on the ground. "Nice to meet you, Pence! Spike Chaser!" A row of summoned swords burst from wormholes along the pavement, knocking Number IV into the air. "Eins...Zwei...Drei...Vier...Funf...Sechs...Sieben...Acht...Crescent Saber!" After counting off eight hits from Sword Summoner EX (in German!), Lambda leapt into the air and delivered a heavy downward slash with a curved blade.

Number IV hit the ground in front of Pence, who casually laid the end of the StreetSweeper 3000 on the empty shell's face. "Time to finish this! Aaand _**CLICK!**_ " Number IV was sucked into the device headfirst. All that was left of the Absent Silhouette was a few wisps of smoke and icy vapor ejected from Pence's marvel of science. The Dark Barrier fell. "I think I'm all set for the school Science Fair this year, don't you, Lambda?"

Lambda "No kidding! Hey, do all scientists say that 'Aaand click!' phrase? I know another lady who does that."

Pence rubbed his neck bashfully. "Well, you have to admit it's fun to say. And what language was that, anyway? Nah, it doesn't matter. I'll clear the next barrier for you - you wanted to help the guy who got sucked into that book, right, Lambda?"

Lambda was impressed; she'd thought she was being subtle about her motives for going through all these fights in a straight line. "Yep, you figured me out. I can't let the shell that illusionist keep my boyfriend!"

"You're into the tall, dark, and angsty type, huh, Lambda? Whatever floats your boat... Aaand CLICK!" Pence pressed the StreetSweeper 3000 against the next Dark Barrier and pulled it in, hexagon by hexagon.

"I would be offended, but there's no time for that right now. I'm coming, Riku!" Lambda jumped over a row of flying hexagons and brought the blade attached to her right wrist down onto _A.S. Number VI's_ fancy new lexicon, titled "Radical Treatise".

 **VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

 _Riku: Defeat A.S. Number VI (Zexion)! Track down the boss' real location!_

While Lambda was tearing through other Absent Silhouettes, Riku was kept busy with just A.S. Number VI. Riku knew how to sniff through Zexion's illusions, but it still took a moment to pin down the enemy's location, and Number VI liked to teleport.

Meanwhile, huge swarms of books kept forming around Riku, growing sharp jaws from their pages, and biting at the dark warrior. The flesh-eating books were just illusions, and Riku definitely knew it, but they still hurt like the real deal inside this illusory pocket realm. Riku couldn't afford to get bogged down in taking the books out one by one. He needed a better tactic...

Wait, of course! "Dark Barrage! Um...gotta come up with a better way to say it... Dark Barrage PLUS!" Riku summoned as many Soul Eater copies as he could in the space above his head, fanned out in all directions. Then he summoned even more swords, expanding a tightly-packed ball of sharp edges further and further. "More...more...more! And now... Tear apart!" All the swords sped in the directions they were facing, filling the entire illusion-world with sharp, stabby death, except for a very small radius around Riku.

Number VI grunted in pain; his invisibility was dispelled after he was pinned to the cloud-like floor of the area beneath no less than five Soul Eaters. Riku flash-stepped to the downed A.S. and delivered the coup de grace.

"R-Riku...why?" A female voice? The illusion of Zexion morphed into Lambda, then went still as death.

Riku just growled and lunged in the direction of another invisible target, standing right where Riku had been when he launched Dark Barrage Plus. He cut through a solid object, and the illusory Lambda vanished behind him. "Nice try, bastard. You won't make me doubt myself ever again!"

The A.S. became visible and fell to his knees, clutching a fatal wound in his side. "How did you find me? It's NOT POSSIBLE!" His scream poured out along with his fading existence. But the illusory world didn't shatter.

Riku looked around. "That's that. But how do I get out of here?"

 _"I'm coming, Riku!"_ Riku heard a tearing sound, and then everything went white.

 **VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

 _Tram Common..._

Riku pushed himself off the ground back in Twilight Town. Lambda was standing over him, unarmored. She asked in a concerned tone, "Are you okay, dear? Did you beat the Absent Silhouette? Also, do you need some rest? I dismissed Murakumo to take a breather for a moment. There are only two Absent Silhouettes left; both of them are in the woods outside town."

Riku gave Lambda a confident thumbs-up. "Yes, yes, and no. Sora's got to be fighting the other two shells. We need to catch up to him."

Lambda realized what Riku meant by _catch up_. "...Please don't yank my arm so hard again."

Riku chuckled. "Just brace yourself; I'll do the rest." Lambda linked her arms tightly around Riku's waist...

 **VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

 _The Woods..._

...One flash-step later, Riku and Lambda reappeared in the woods, but they were left sprawled on the ground after running headlong into another Dark Barrier while traveling at the speed of Darkness.

Riku rubbed his sore head. "Ow. Sorry, Lambda. I tried."

Lambda rubbed her sore everything. "It wasn't your fault this time, dear. Still, this barrier seems tougher than the others..."

 _"That's 'cause I don't need to split my attention as much! I only have one eye to keep on you, after all. Well, 'see' ya soon! If the last two Absent Silhouettes are anything like the others, I'll need to be ready for my next trick."_ Xigbar again.

"Your 'next trick?'" Riku called.

 _"What, you expect me to tell you before I do it, so you can 'do something about it'? As if! You might as well just watch the show for now..."_ Xigbar was silent again, save for an echoing chuckle.

 **VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

 _Donald and Goofy: Defeat A.S. Number IX (Demyx)! Can you still win without Sora?_

Behind the Dark Barrier, Donald and Goofy were trapped with _A.S. Number IX,_ the remnant of Demyx. Sora was trapped in another barrier and another battle further ahead, and no amount of pounding on the clear wall would let Donald and Goofy reach him.

Goofy kept pounding. "Gawrsh, what do we do, Donald?"

Donald turned around and glared at the Absent Silhouette. "We just need to beat him, that's all!"

"Can we do that without Sora...?" Goofy hesitantly raised his shield against the blond musician, who was strumming his new sitar, "Sanctuary", preparing for an attack of some sort.

"C'mon, Goofy! We're the King's strongest and most loyal subjects! My magic can beat this jerk, and he can't beat your shield!" Donald raised his staff. "THUNDER!"

A bolt of lightning crashed down on Number IX, dealing heavy damage and messing up his hair even more than usual. But just like the original Demyx, he proved surprisingly tough - he hadn't stopped playing his sitar, and the next attack was ready. "Dance, water, dance!" A crowd of water clones split off from Number IX, surrounding Donald and Goofy. Meanwhile, a countdown timer appeared above Number IX's head: 60 seconds to Doom, and 60 forms to defeat.

Goofy spun around with his signature Goofy Tornado, but it only took out a few of the clones. "I don't think I can beat 'em all in time!"

Donald ran at Goofy and jumped on his shoulders. "I've got a plan! Lemme on!"

"You got it, Donald!" Goofy stopped spinning and blocked an attack from a water clone.

Donald linked his mana to Goofy's. Goofy had a lot of innate mana, but no training in magic, leaving him with a surplus of energy that he couldn't fully tap into on his own. Thus, he made the perfect partner for Donald's partner-requiring spell, Duck Flare.

"DUCK FLARE!" Donald pulled from Goofy's mana and summoned _hundreds_ of little fireworks, easily enough to destroy all the clones at once and then some. The remaining rockets all exploded against Number IX, pushing him into the air bit by bit with each little blast. When all the clones were destroyed, Donald retargeted all the rockets that were still flying and all the ones he was still in the process of creating. "MEGADUCK FLARE!" Number IX was covered in a colorful burst of fire.

"And just for good measure... GIGADUCK FLARE!" Donald put a new finishing touch on the move - he poured all of his own mana into a single, massive rocket, which was sent right into the smoke cloud left behind by Megaduck Flare. Number IX was still in there, and took a direct hit. After the spectacular grand finale, the smokescreen faded away to Nothing, followed by a short rainfall. The battle was over.

"We did it!" Goofy bounced up and down and waved his arms, with Donald still on his shoulders and doing the same.

The Dark Barrier went down, allowing Riku and Lambda to join the group, but Sora was still behind the other barrier, fighting _A.S. Number XI._ The remnant of Marluxia was arguably the toughest one.

 **VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

 _Sora: Defeat A.S. Number XI (Marluxia)! Don't ever forget where your power comes from!_

Sora had been caught in this battle since Xigbar teleported everyone. Number XI had appeared just behind him, and he whispered some profane spell in Sora's ear. By the time Sora got over his shock (and the revolting violation of his personal space), a number 55 had appeared over the Keyblade hero's head. Marluxia was now in front of him, twirling a massive, black-and-gold scythe with a pink handle inscribed with the name "Hallowed Lotus".

"Do you want to scream?" Number XI summoned flying drones that looked like closed-up roses. The drones circled Sora and prepared to fire lasers, but Sora destroyed them all at once with a flashy spin attack he liked to call Vicinity Break.

"Which beaten Organization member are you, anyway? I don't remember fighting you!"

Xigbar's infuriating laugh resounded in the arena. _"Aw, don't tell me you forgot! Of course; what am I saying? You threw away those memories. That time must not have meant very much to you."_

Sora's eyes widened as Number XI's scythe came down on him in an overhand slice. Sora caught it on the Kingdom Key, but struggled to overcome the strength of Castle Oblivion's lord. "No...no, I don't believe you. All of my memories are precious! If I had to give some of them up, there must have been a good reason. And I'll remember that reason someday, just you wait!"

 _"As if! You might as well thank me for reminding you, though. I'll get in line...right after_ her. _"_

"Her? Who are you...?"

 _"It doesn't matter who she was. You can't remember her, so she might as well never have existed to you. Besides, don't you have a fight you should be losing right now?"_

"Your heart shall be judged!" Number XI overpowered Sora's defense, pushing the boy back enough to bring his scythe down on the ground. The blow sent out a shockwave in a straight line that exploded into a wall of pink energy.

Sora did a Dodge Roll to get out of the way of the blast, mentally kicking himself for forgetting this eminently useful technique until he had unlocked Limit Form during his previous visit to Twilight Town. How many other important things had he forgotten? Was Xigbar right?

"Sora, are you okay?" That was Riku's voice! Sora chanced a look backward to see Riku, Lambda, Donald, and Goofy. They were all safe and sound, and they were all rooting for him from the other side of the barrier. He had been worried when Donald and Goofy were trapped with another Absent Silhouette, but from the water dripping off of Donald's zipper-covered hat, they had defeated the Demyx copy themselves.

"I'm fine!" Sora lunged at Number XI, only for the A.S. to dissolve into a bunch of petals and reform behind him. A cut from the scythe hit Sora in the back, knocking him into the air, where Number XI appeared behind him again. The attacks didn't hurt, but each hit made the number over Sora's head count down. And Marluxia showed no signs of stopping. 50...45...40...

Donald yelped, "You gotta break out of that combo, Sora!"

Sora tried to recover his balance and strike back, but he was too slow, and took another hit. "I...can't!"

Goofy covered his eyes. "This isn't good!"

Lambda worriedly remarked, "I don't want to find out what happens when that counter hits zero..."

Riku furrowed his brow in silence, but then put on a confident smirk. "Giving up already? C'mon, Sora! I thought you were stronger than that!"

Lambda picked up the morale-raising speech. "Yeah! I _know_ you are! Look around; all your friends won their fights already! And we're counting on you to win yours!"

Sora heard all this while taking more hits. 35...30...25...10... "You're right!" He finally recovered in time to flip around the next attack, causing Number XI to stop his combo.

"My friends are stronger than these guys! All of you are! And I'll never forget what that means to me. After all, my friends...ARE MY POWER!" A burst of Light heralded Sora's activation of Limit Form, returning him to the red, white, and blue colors he wore during his first adventure.

"With all your strength behind me, I can win for sure! Ragnarok!" A swarm of orange magic bolts swirled from the tip of Sora's Keyblade, tracking Number XI with their strong homing ability when the Absent Silhouette tried to teleport again.

"You think you can get away with trying to hurt my friends? They won't let you - and I won't, either! Sonic Blade!" While Number XI was being battered by Ragnarok, Sora blurred past him with six lunging strikes.

"They're all cheering me on! We all want the same thing! Strike Raid!" Sora's Sonic Blade finished with him a short distance away from Number XI, but he kept up the assault by throwing his Keyblade and re-summoning it, only to throw it again and again. "If you want to judge my heart, you'll need a heart and mind of your own first! Judgment!" Sora leaped into the air and threw his Keyblade one more time; it split into three disks of Light and cut through Number XI from three directions.

"When our hearts are as one, we're unbeatable! Ars Arcanum!" Sora flew into a series of blindingly-fast combos. "This is for messing with my memories back then! This is for messing with my head with your stupid speeches! This is for attacking my friends! This is for kidnapping Kairi! And THIS is for _getting in my way when I'm trying to rescue her!_ " Number XI had already taken lethal damage several hits ago, but Sora's last blow certainly made the Absent Silhouette's destruction look impressive. A pair of slashes glowed in an X shape across Number XI's chest as Sora made a three-point landing behind him, holding the Keyblade out to his side, and then the enemy exploded into a shower of rose petals and thorns of Nothing.

Sora's outfit returned to its normal color with a brief white glow, and the hero of the Keyblade got back to his feet as the last Dark Barrier vanished.

 **VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

 _Twilight Town: The Woods..._

Riku stared in awe at what Sora was capable of when he got serious. "Well, I'm impressed. Sora, the score's 1 to 0 for today - your favor! Oh, and Lambda, give yourself a point for getting me out of that book. And another for the speech; that was pretty inspiring!"

"Acknowledged. Scores updated. Our scores just tied again at 9 to 9!"

Sora put his arms behind his head and grinned. "Cool, I'm finally winning for the first time in more than a year! But we do need to keep moving. Um...why did we come here again, Riku?"

Oh, right. They did return to Twilight Town for a reason. "There's something we need to find in the old mansion. It'll help us get into Organization XIII's stronghold."

Xigbar growled from his hidden vantage point. _"Not so fast, punks! But how to...Aha! I'll just call in a favor!"_

A Time break formed in the middle of the old mansion's front courtyard, and a man with green hair and black clothes fell out.

Hazama stood up and dusted off his formal slacks. "Who dumped me here? You got my suit dirty! ...Oh, if it isn't a huge group of wannabe heroes, including that big-talking punk from before! You just want me to mess with a bunch of dumb heroes? Never mind what I just said; this is like my birthday, Doomsday, and Ragna's head on a spike all rolled into one!"

"You can say that again!" The same voice called out as a second man stepped out of the Time Break. This one had identical features to Hazama, but wore a yellow cloak with a hood that obscured the upper half of his face. Only one yellow eye was visible under the shadow of the hood. Both versions of Yuuki Terumi pulled out pairs of butterfly knives and twirled them around.

 _"Yep, you got the right idea. Consider it payment for the notes I passed you on the Power of Darkness. I gotta go for now; it looks like bringing over such strong beings by force opened a bunch of other Time Breaks all around town, so this party is about to get exciting again! Hope you're_ not _ready for round two, punks!"_

 **VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

 _A/N: [Quote from_ Pokemon: The Movie 2000 _]: "I...have failed." I missed the deadline. Hopefully, this chapter is cool enough to make up for it. The "round two" Xigbar mentioned will have a lot of BlazBlue guest fighters, but that's next chapter. Don't worry, I'm too hyped to slow down too much yet. Like the fight with Xion back in Chapter 9, I think the next chapter will reach you really quickly._


	25. Dispatched in Mankind's Darkest Hour

**Silver Linings**

 **Chapter 25: "Dispatched in Mankind's Darkest Hour..."**

 _A/N: Yep, this took way longer than I thought. I'm going to blame_ BlazBlue: Centralfiction. _Not only was it a really fun game that ate up all my free time, it also revealed that several assumptions that already made it into this story were canonically wrong. Therefore, it's up to me to create an alternate cosmology of the Azure Timeline in which to finish this story. Because yes, it_ will _be finished someday._

 **VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

 _Twilight Town: The Old Mansion - Front Yard..._

Lambda stared at the green-haired newcomers, slipping into her robotic tone to avoid letting them feed off her emotions. "Both targets recognized as Yuuki Terumi. Paradox detected...resolved. Target 1 is an Azure Grimoire and vessel for Terumi. Reclassifying target as Hazama. Target 2 is Yuuki Terumi's spiritual form. Recommendation: maximum power attack against Target 2."

Terumi growled. "So you figured out that we're two people now. And let me tell you, it is a PAIN being able to feel pain."

Hazama, on the other hand, grinned madly - an unhinged expression that ripped at the sanity of those around him. "Speak for yourself, Terumi ol' buddy! Feeling pain is the only way I know I'm me! But let's leave that discussion to the philosophers sitting on their asses at home - right now, it's time to dish out some _delicious_ Hazama name-brand torment!"

"Not yet! Heal up, everyone!" King Mickey suddenly flipped onto the scene with utmost style, brandishing the Kingdom Key D and casting a wide-area healing spell. All the heroes in front of the old mansion were restored to full health. "Riku, ya started without me! I guess I won't have to keep that secret from Sora, though!"

"Sorry, Your Maje-er, Mickey. You're just in time, though, as usual! It looks like we'll need your Keyblade to deal with these Time Breaks."

Xigbar's voice called out again. _"Eh, I can work with this. With that, the halftime break - heh, Time Break puns - is officially over! Run along back to your places, now!"_ Everyone was teleported all over town again, leaving Riku alone with Terumi, Hazama, and a Time Break.

 **VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

 _[Azure Timeline]: Kokonoe's Lab..._

Kokonoe spit out her coffee when a Time Break opened in her lab again. No big loss; the coffee around here was never any good. "Argh, I thought Lambda had these things under control!"

"Lamb...da...?" Lambda-11 slowly asked from beside her. Kokonoe had decided to step up the timetable of getting "Lambda-11 2.0" online after the other Lambda made a call from another timeline.

"Not talking about you. There was another timeline, and... Argh, it'll take too long to explain. Still, this is the perfect chance to test my new Time Breaker Mk. II!" Kokonoe moved over to her desk to retrieve a gun-like device.

"Another...me? Target detected. IDEA Engine activated." Lambda-11 2.0 suddenly armed herself, dashed forward, and rushed through the Time Break.

"What?! That was _not_ an order! Where the hell are you going?" Kokonoe yanked a handheld radio out of her pocket. "Goddammit...Tager! We've got trouble! Get your rusty ass in here ASAP!"

 _"Roger that, Kokonoe. Arriving in...um, zero seconds."_ Tager lumbered into the lab while still talking into his own radio.

"Well then, stop talking into the radio if you're right here! A Time Break just opened here - I hope you can at least see that much."

"Affirmative. Is this related to the spatial instability that shortened my arrival to the lab?" 

"No, it's something older. This rift leads to a whole other timeline...and Lambda just went through it. Your orders are to go through there and retrieve Lambda-11 2.0, and keep her intact. We need her IDEA Engine to stand any chance against Terumi's, Relius', and Izanami's collective bullshit. Keep in contact by radio, and don't mind any further anomalies with the rift itself - if the Time Break grows too large, I can just seal it up before it becomes a Collision Zone and make a new, smaller Break to get you back here."

"Roger all that. Orders are to retrieve the rogue Prime Field Device, Lambda-11 2.0, alive - er, intact. TR-0009 Tager, commencing mission." Tager lumbered through the Time Break and vanished from the lab.

"Right. Be quick about it." Kokonoe turned back to her console to see a blinking red pop-up. "What? Terumi, you bastard...you're there, too?! This time, Mother isn't going to pull you out of my trap!" Kokonoe fired up the Time Breaker Mk. II, closing the rift Tager and Lambda used and opening a new one with beams of erratic colored light.

 **VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

 _Kagutsuchi: Orient Town..._

"He's got to be here somewhere...I can feel his presence. Is this the Boundary's influence?" Litchi Faye-Ling, apprentice scientist, owner of a small clinic in Orient Town, and unbeatable world champion of bra-size competitions, peered into another sewer drain in search of her true love.

"Wha-disto-ion is th-? An-er time? 'Ti-Break'? Mus-know! Must eat! Must de-our! Must must must MUST!" A mass of horrifying black ooze burst from the sewer Litchi was examining, forcing her to jump backwards to avoid the manhole cover. The monster known to the world as Arakune, but stubbornly referred to by Litchi as Lotte "Roy" Carmine, oozed his way into a jagged rip in space that appeared a short distance down the street.

"Wait, Roy! WAIT!" Litchi recovered from her surprise and rushed after her one true love without another thought.

"Miss Litchi! Don't go, my love! NOOOOO!" This was said by BANG SHISHIGAMI, HERO OF LOVE AND JUSTICE, who had been stalking - er, watching over - Litchi from a nearby rooftop. "Wait for me! I'll protect you from that beast! Toh!" He jumped...directly into yet another Time Break which suddenly formed in midair.

 **VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

 _[Heart Timeline]: Twilight Town: Sandlot..._

Xigbar's teleportation had dropped Lambda right back where she started. She picked herself up off the ground and brushed sand from her suit. "Ugh, I'm really getting sick of Xigbar's space powers. Scanning...Xigbar not found. Of course, the _one_ time a Black Coat actually hides someone from prying eyes...! I'll need some other way to track him. Maybe I can track his powers instead? Scanning for spatial distortions. 3... Correction: 2... Correction: 4 Time Breaks detected. There's too much interference with all these Time Breaks popping up. Wait, did one of them close already?"

Glancing around, Lambda located the closest Time Break at the ramp between the Sandlot and the Back Alley. Out from the rift came something she couldn't have expected...

Lambda-11 2.0 came to a stop exactly two meters away from Lambda. "Scanning...Target located. Target identified as...me."

Lambda (Riku's Lambda) was taken aback. She let her protocols handle a situation she couldn't make heads or tails of. "Who - what - how...Scanning...Target recognized as identical existence. Separate phenomena confirmed. Asserting difference. You're the one Kokonoe repaired, right? I didn't know she was done already. Well, I was here first, and I'm staying. Don't you have someone to protect in the Azure Timeline?"

Lambda-11 2.0 stood perfectly still; a soft clicking sound could be heard. "Disk error; bad sectors detected. All memories regarding 'someone to protect' are corrupted. Repairs in progress; prioritizing other actions. Base programming directive: eliminate identical existence. Identical Murakumo Unit, I order you to self-destruct."

"No, not this again! ...I reject your order. Engaging combat mode. Release restriction 13." Lambda summoned her weapon and took an identical combat stance to Lambda-11 2.0.

"Activating IDEA Engine. Output stabilized." A field of green particles surrounded Lambda 2.0.

"Summoning Lux Sanctus. IDEA Engine linked. Murakumo, activate." Lambda summoned her armor. Darkness wafted from her shoulders like smoke due to her released limiter.

Both PFDs spoke in unison. "Terminating target." Both sets of Petal blades oriented themselves towards the enemy...

"CRIMSON METEOR!" A giant red-and-black mass crashed into Lambda 2.0, stopping the battle cold. A behemoth of a man stood from the resulting cloud of dust. "Lambda-11 2.0, your orders are to return to base. Why did you run off without orders, anyway?"

Lambda lowered her Petals to their default configuration, but didn't dismiss Murakumo. "It was probably because she sensed me."

Tager glanced at the other Lambda and lost his composure. "What - are you...another Lambda?"

Lambda gave him a wry smile, but she was still unable to leave Combat Mode. "Yes and no. I know it's confusing; I hate paradoxes. Hence the base directive to terminate any other Murakumo Unit, even if I'd rather not. But if you get her back through the Time Break, our existences won't be in conflict anymore, so... Hey, where'd it go?" The Time Break which Lambda 2.0 and Tager had used to get here was gone.

Tager tightened a bulky fist, releasing yellow sparks. "Blast! Kokonoe must have closed it already."

"Wait, she found a way to do that with just one person? That's great news; there are too many Time Breaks to leave alone on this world right now. But...drat, that means there's no way to argue with my directive. Resuming combat..." Lambda summoned a few swords to send at Lambda 2.0, who flipped back to her feet...leg-blade things...and dodged the attack.

Tager pulled out his radio. "Kokonoe, this is Tager. I've encountered Lambda 2.0. She's engaged in combat with another Lambda who was already here."

 _"I figured as much. Give me thirty seconds to get Terumi pinned down, and I'll collect her. Try to keep both Lambdas intact until then, but don't pull your punches too much; otherwise, they'll kill you to get at each other."_

Tager shot a surprised glance at his radio, regardless of the fact that it didn't have video capabilities, and his goggles were too opaque to see his eyes anyway. "Terumi?! Well, that certainly explains the change of plans. New mission parameters acknowledged."

 _"Good luck, Tager. Kokonoe, out. Hey! I found you, Terumi, you bast-"_ The transmission cut off.

 **VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

 _Twilight Town: Sandlot..._

 _Riku: Defeat Yuuki Terumi and Hazama!_

Hazama sighed in disappointment as all but one of the other fighters vanished. "Aw, we only get to cut up one of you? I call dibs on his liver! Gyahahaha!"

Terumi's eye twitched under his hood. "Wait, this is that punk who caught me off guard last time I was in this continuum! Watch out, Hazama; he's got some kind of freaky body-controlling technique."

Riku smirked. "Sure do. But I don't want to scare Lambda like that again, so I'll deliver your beatdowns a bit more manually this time." He summoned Soul Eater and got into his fighting stance, complete with a "bring it on" gesture. "Let's see if it's possible to beat you in a straightforward contest of fighting skill?"

Terumi hissed. "Hate to break it to you kid - oh, what am I saying? I _love_ breaking people! - You're up against a guy with WAY more experience than your little mortal brain can even comprehend. C'mere and let me cut you!"

"DIBS!" Hazama summoned his Nox Nyctores, Ouroboros, to swing closer to Riku, coming down on his head with a darkness-shrouded axe kick. "Dancing Fang!"

Riku vanished from the point of impact, appearing behind and above Terumi, but Terumi's knives were already crossed in the way of Soul Eater behind his neck. " _Predictable,_ kiddo. A guy can teleport, so he attacks from behind. Give me some harder reads, or this'll just be boring!"

"Don't mind if I do. Dark Cannon!" Riku hovered back up, launching a dozen Dark Firaga blasts at once from the tip of his sword. Hazama summoned Ouroboros to wrap around himself like a barrier, while Terumi cut the projectiles apart in a whirl of knives.

Hazama cackled. "Gyahaha! Got any more tricks? Oh, I guess I shouldn't expect much more from a newbie, huh? My bad. Here's one from me - Eternal Coils of the Dragon Serpent!" Riku suddenly found himself caught in a binding circle of green Ars Magus, and then yanked toward Hazama by Ouroboros' teeth. Hazama's knives glinted as he prepared to slice, dice, and make Julienne fries out of the dark hero.

In desperation, Riku yelled, "Dark Shield!" He managed to use the shield to bounce off of Hazama's knife and regain a safe distance...landing right under Terumi's slime-coated boot.

"Serpent's Laceration!" Terumi stomped Riku's head, over...and over...and over, so quickly that Terumi's leg became a blur. Then he scooped Riku into the air. "Look, Hazama, no hands!" Two successive kicks knocked Riku skyward.

"Nice! Hungry Coils!" Hazama grabbed Riku with a chain and slammed him back to the ground.

Riku pulled himself to his feet, swaying from a bad knock to the head. "This isn't good..."

A new woman's voice called from the opening to the woods, "I found you, Terumi, you bastard! Graviton, deploy!" A round machine appeared, floating in midair between Hazama and Terumi.

Gravity warped around the device It drew in the two villains, but not Riku or the newcomer, who revealed herself to be a rather short woman with pink hair and pink fur on her cat ears and her two cat tails. "Flame Cage, launch!" The cat-woman pointed a large gun into the air and shot a trio of fireballs straight up, which were then immediately dragged into the Graviton's pull, causing them to smother Terumi and Hazama in flames. "Remember, Terumi. You'll be killed by Professor Kokonoe Mercury."

"But what about me?" Hazama whined sarcastically. "I mean, it's not like killing Terumi would actually get rid of him. Might feel nice for a minute or two, but then the chains lock around your feet! Eternal Coils of the-"

"Planar Haze, warp." Kokonoe disappeared into a ring of red-painted metal that descended out of nowhere, reappearing right behind her Graviton. This caused Hazama to miss with his attempt to bind her as he had done to Riku. Hazama turned around, expecting to be attacked from behind, but whatever weapon he was expecting was probably smaller than the drill-ended hammer Kokonoe swung at him. "Hmm, that did feel good. I guess total assholes can have the right idea once in a while, too. Hold still; I'm going to need some repeated trials..." She dropped the hammer (which fell into a metal hatch that appeared from nowhere), then pulled out a rocket-propelled baseball bat. She swung the new bludgeoning tool at Terumi, overwhelming his dual-knife defense. "Graviton, activate." The Graviton flashed yellow, expelling its remaining charge to reverse gravity and push Terumi and Hazama into opposite walls.

"Dark Maelstrom!" Riku rejoined the fray, attacking Terumi with a double-ended naginata spin attack. "Thanks for the help! Are you the same Kokonoe Lambda was talking about?"

Kokonoe popped a lollipop into her mouth. "Yep, and I take it you're Riku. Keep 'em busy if you can; Terumi and I have some unfinished business, but I'll need a moment to set things up." She began typing into a handheld screen.

"I'm not sure how long I can hold them! Gah!" Riku swatted away Hazama's next attempt to chain-leap at him.

Terumi growled. "Every time it looks like I can have some fun, another big damn hero pops up out of nowhere! I'm sick of it! Gleaming Fangs!" He cloaked himself in slimy magic and rushed at Kokonoe, only to run headfirst into Soul Eater.

Riku shoved Terumi away with a smirk. "I can't be in two places at once, but I can move a lot faster than I have been." He appeared on Terumi's left side, was blocked, then appeared behind him, was blocked...then appeared _below_ the yellow snake in a dark portal. Terumi was blasted skyward as Riku exploded out of the portal in a burst of Darkness. "Dark Riser! ...This calls for a new move."

"Do you name your moves Dark everything? Kinda boring, if you ask me. Serpent's Infernal Rapture!" Hazama had snuck up behind Riku, and delivered an incredibly heavy upward kick. "Or 'Super Snake Kick', if you can't say big words." Riku was thrown high into the air, and Hazama got ready to catch him with Hungry Coils on the way down.

Riku flipped upright and floated in midair beyond Ouroboros' length. "That's funny coming from you, Captain Snake-Moves. Bladecharge!" He'd managed to shorten the time it took the Light blade to grow down to one second. Then he flash-stepped behind Terumi, who had started eyeing Kokonoe's progress. "Think fast, Terumi!"

"Serpent's Cursed Sting!" To his credit, Terumi thought fast, and caught Riku's blade of Light on a giant knife formed from both of his knives coated in magic. But his knife was still too small to hold up against Riku's six-foot sword, and he crumpled under Riku's strength...but he slithered back to his feet in an unnatural motion, more angry than hurt. "That does it! Xigbar can take his debt and stuff it! I'm out!" Terumi turned toward the Time Break, only to find it wasn't there.

"You're leaving, Terumi, but you're doing it my way." Kokonoe swiped her screen and raised a larger gun-like device. "Targets and destination, locked in. Time Breaker Mk. II, fully charged. Aaand CLICK!" A ray of light lanced out and struck Terumi, enveloping him in a new Time Break. Hazama received the same fate only moments later. Pulling a second trigger, Kokonoe closed both new Time Breaks simultaneously. She pulled out a radio. "Kajun, are the cages ready?"

A demure voice responded, "Indeed they are, Professor. Shall I commence the planned experiments?"

"Certainly. Killing them would be unproductive, but that doesn't mean we can't get a lot of lovely data from them. I recommend Serum #492. I've still got some high-priority tasks on this side, so go ahead and start sticking needles in them without me. Over and out." Kokonoe pocketed the radio and turned toward Riku. "Your Lambda and mine found each other, with the expected result. Tager should be keeping them off each other's throats, but you should probably hurry back to your girlfriend before one of her selves dies."

"Hey, don't even joke about that!" Riku zipped off to find his girlfriend, only to realize that he hadn't asked Kokonoe where the two Lambdas were. When he returned to the mansion's front yard, Kokonoe was gone. "Darn it!" Now he had to search manually. He zoomed off to Tram Common first...

 **VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

 _Sandlot..._

 _Tager: Subdue Lambda-11 2.0!_

"Target recognized: Iron Tager. Registered as friendly. Requesting you stand aside."

Tager faced Lambda 2.0 and spread his massive arms out. "I apologize; I can't do that. I have my orders...and you do, too, Lambda 2.0. You're coming back to the lab, even if I have to break your legs and carry you there."

"Continuing attack. Legacy Edge." Aiming for Lambda through Tager's body, Lambda 2.0 released a storm of daggers.

Tager pulled his arms across his body and charged up energy, allowing the tiny blades to ping harmlessly off his reinforced skin. "I see you won't come quietly. TR-0009 Tager, commencing mission. Spark Bolt!"

A yellow ball of energy launched at blinding speed from Tager's chest, slamming into Lambda 2.0. She flew backwards into a wall of the Sandlot, and when she rose to her feet again, tiny yellow sparks were randomly flying off her body.

"What's that?" Lambda asked. She was keeping her protocols satisfied by letting Tager remove the other Lambda from this timeline.

"'That' is my favorite part of my often-demeaning job. Come here!" Tager stretched one massive gauntlet forward, generating an electromagnetic charge that drew in the magnetic tag he'd left on Lambda 2.0.

Unable to fight the pull, Lambda 2.0 was drawn into Tager's iron grasp, and was then promptly thrown skyward. "Genesic...!"

Tager leapt straight up to catch the rogue PFD, jumping way higher than someone so heavy should be able to. "Emerald...!"

He caught Lambda 2.0 in one hand and came rocketing down, both mechanical life-forms trailing sparks as they fell. "TAGER...!"

The impact created a burst of electricity and left a massive crater in the sand. "BUSTER!"

When the smoke cleared, Lambda-11 2.0 was left lying facedown in the crater, her whole body covered in electrical burns. "Damage 60%...termination of target deemed impossible in current condition. Re-routing power to auto-repair systems."

Lambda called out to her double, "There's someone out there who's more important than killing me. Ragna the Bloodedge - do you remember him? I decided to leave him behind...meaning it's up to you to protect him."

There was an audible *click* from Lambda 2.0. "Rag...na? Ragna...! All memory errors repaired. Tager, I request transportation back to the Azure Timeline."

"No problem." Kokonoe teleported into the clearing with her personal teleporter mechanism, then whipped out a pistol-like device. "And...click." A beam of light that rapidly changed color shot out, ending at a point above Lambda-11 2.0 and opening a Time Break. "Mission accomplished, more or less. Terumi's going to feel that one tomorrow. Return to base, everyone." Kokonoe sauntered through the Time Break, expecting her two minions to follow her, which they did. The rift closed behind them.

"Reapply restriction 13." Lambda breathed a sigh of relief as her Darkness obediently crawled back into her heart, where it could be kept to a manageable level. "Scanning for spatial distortions...Xigbar located. Target lock acquired...Calamity Sword."

 **VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

 _In the woods..._

"Argh!" Xigbar fell out of the tree where he'd been hiding. "How did she even find me?! Well, I'm not sticking around here to get stabbed by any more giant swords - not that she'll catch me off guard like that again. As if! But I do have one more neat trick in my space pocket..." The sniper spat on the ground, then vanished into a Dark Corridor.

 **VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

 _Tram Common..._

Hayner and Olette had come running as soon as Pence told them about the Absent Silhouettes, but by the time they arrived, there was no one left to fight off. Hayner looked left and right, then collapsed dramatically in the middle of the street. "Aw, man! I was so psyched for this!"

Olette consoled him, "I suppose it's better than the alternative, right, Hayner?"

Pence agreed. "Yeah! I mean, if there were any left, it would mean the bad guys beat Sora, right?"

Hayner groaned for another moment, then kicked himself back onto his feet. "Good point. Still, I can't believe Seifer got to show off his cool new moves first!"

The Usual Suspects went back to chatting as usual, unaware of the monster stalking them from the tunnels...

Arakune studied the children from afar. His unsettling white mask spun and bounced on his fluid body. "I sen- it! Light, tasty...heart-sou-AZURE!" He oozed out of the shadows and spat a huge, nasty bug at Pence. The thing had too many legs to identify, and dissolved into sludge as swiftly as it appeared, but not before cutting Pence's leg. The sludge also got into his StreetSweeper, which began to spark and smoke.

Pence stared at his device in horror. "No, my masterpiece! It's gonna blow!" He glared at Arakune and hefted the malfunctioning StreetSweeper, then tossed the whole tube at the monstrous blob. "You...whatever you are! Do you know how long this took to make!? Well, I hope you're happy!" The StreetSweeper exploded in a massive plume of inky Darkness. The force of the explosion splattered Arakune's gooey body and residual Darkness all over the street.

The patches of liquid seithr slowly crept back together and reformed into Arakune, but the patches of Darkness remained where they were...and those puddles began to spawn Heartless. Pence began backing away from the small army of Neoshadows that popped up. Pence chuckled nervously. "Heh heh... I was afraid of this..."

 **VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

 _Hayner and Olette: Defeat Arakune and the Heartless with superior teamwork!_

"Stay back, Pence!"

"It's our turn now!" Hayner and Olette rushed to put themselves between Pence and the monsters, brandishing their own weapons.

Hayner had a simple bastard sword. It retained the unusual balance of the foam bat he used in the Struggle, but the heavy, sharp, double-edged weapon would be far more effective for fighting Heartless. Olette had a generic magic staff, but instead of a Black Mage on the end, it sported a White Mage ornament, complete with red-and-white hood. She waved it and surrounded Pence with a green glow that healed the cut on his leg (and removed a tainted residue left behind by Arakune's attack, even though none of them had noticed the extra effect).

Arakune had pulled enough of his mass into one place to notice the Cure spell and crawl towards Olette, but Hayner got in his way and delivered a heavy slice, causing the blob to lurch backward.

Meanwhile, Olette started casting stat-boosting spells on Hayner, increasing his speed, strength, and resilience. The Heartless took note of this; several Neoshadows pounced on Olette in unison, but they were dispersed...somehow.

 **VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

 _Meanwhile, in the Station Heights area..._

Riku was still searching the town for Lambda. "Ugh, I think I got some Heartless gunk in my mouth when I rammed into a few back there. They taste as foul as they smell! Well, if the Heartless have joined the fight, then I definitely need to find Lambda. They could multiply out of control again." He sped off again, oblivious to the citizens he'd just saved.

Luckily, he quickly found Lambda waiting for him only one area away. "There you are, Riku! Does this mean you beat Terumi? ...And Hazama? I should probably mention him too."

Riku replied, "With a bit of help, yes. Kokonoe's gadgets are amazing! And I guess you beat your doppelganger?"

Echoing Riku, Lambda replied, "With a bit of help, yes. Tager's wrestling moves are scary! Anyway, let's meet up with Sora at the mansion. I gave Xigbar a good whack and got him to leave, so we won't be teleported away again this time."

"Great job, Lambda! That's a point for you."

"Okay. The new score is 9 to 10, my favor. I'll give you a point if we _don't_ use Darkness-enhanced speed to get where we're going this time, by the way. It never seems to go well for me."

"Fair enough, dear." Riku and Lambda set off for the woods.

 **VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

 _Back in Tram Common..._

Hayner jumped back to better defend Olette. Arakune tried to confound him by seeping underground and popping up elsewhere, by doing it again only to turn out to be an illusion, by changing color to blend in with his surroundings, by floating through the air, and by spawning more kinds of limbs than any one creature should own...but even with all these tricks and with intermittent attacks from the Heartless, not one claw got past Hayner's defensive stance to reach Olette.

Hayner's defense was utterly impassable, even if the blond had to use his unarmored body to block when his sword couldn't reach. He'd done some serious training and studying in the Knight style mentioned in those history textbooks Olette loved so much; how did the teachers manage to make _this_ sound so boring?!

Meanwhile, Olette kept Hayner's health in tip-top shape - she had focused entirely on healing and bolstering magic, since in her own words, "No one else would've volunteered to be the healer. It's not flashy, but it's necessary."

The duo could sustain these defensive tactics forever if necessary, but without Pence's gadget, the plan the Usual Suspects had trained for wouldn't work; they'd been counting on their mad scientist-in-training to be able to deliver a decisive blow.

Speaking of Pence, he had managed to flee the area and hide behind the defenses he'd set up in the Usual Spot.

Even though Hayner couldn't deal much damage, Arakune was beginning to tire out; the air here had no seithr and no connection to the Boundary, so Arakune had to fuel his attacks with his own biomass, and the prolonged combat was taking its toll.

Arakune's attacks began to slow down and come from predictable angles. Hayner eyed the monster, looking for an opening. There! The pounces of the Neoshadows and Arakune's swipes finally fell out of sync with each other, giving Hayner the chance to put all his strength into an attack on the blob...

A woman cried out, "Tsubame Gaeshi!" Hayner's swing was stopped by a pole slamming into the ground at literally blazing speed and standing upright. Half white and half black, the rod stayed right where it was; it didn't budge an inch when Hayner's heavy-handed hack hit it. Hayner hopped a few paces backward to try a different angle, but the owner of the staff jumped into the fray between the kids and Arakune. "Don't hurt him!"

This was probably the most gorgeous woman Hayner had ever seen. She wore a red dress with a skirt that fell to her ankles behind her, but barely covered anything in front. An argument could be made that this was to allow her to use her graceful kicking moves without getting tangled in the skirt, but her overly-generous cleavage window indicated otherwise. Perhaps she wanted her enemies to be distracted? The strangest part of her outfit was the tiny, but definitely live panda sitting on her head, holding her extremely long black hair in a ponytail. With a wave of her hand, her staff spun into the air and began floating behind her.

Hayner was certainly "distracted", but he snapped out of it when Olette whacked the back of his head. "Ow! Geez, Olette!" Hayner suddenly remembered that he was in the middle of a battle to the death. "Sorry, Miss...um..." 

The woman supplied with a cold tone, "Litchi Faye-Ling."

"...Miss Litchi, but that thing attacked us first. We were only defending ourselves. Besides, there are a bunch of Heartless here, too; it's not safe! You should get out of here before these monsters attack you, too!" A Neoshadow leaped at Litchi as if to prove Hayner's point, so he smashed it into the street to try to prove his goodwill.

Litchi only got more worked up. "That _man_ has a name! He's Roy! And don't try to tell me his name is Arakune, because it's _not!_ Matenbo!" That last part was a command to her rod, which stuck itself to the ground again.

 **VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

 _Meanwhile, on a nearby rooftop..._

Bang fell headfirst onto a hard surface. He sat up, clutching his face. "Oh, the pain...I could have sworn the ground was farther away than this! Hmm? Where in the world is this place?" Bang jumped to his feet - "Ukemi!" - and surveyed the area from this high vantage point.

He caught sight of the battle taking place below him. "By the gods, what devilry is this? I see Miss Litchi - in a hundred years, from a hundred leagues, I would never mistake her breasts for those of any other! - and the creature of her obsession, but who are those children? And those monsters are unlike any I have ever seen!"

Bang deliberated for a few moments before making his decision. "Whatever is going on, people are in danger! It is my duty to intervene, and to protect any who need my aid! First, I must separate Miss Litchi from this battle before she does anything we will all regret!" He leaped into the air and selected a red, explosive nail from his pouch. "Shuriken Special!"

 **VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

 _Back in the fight..._

Hayner shouted at Litchi in exasperation, "We're not the bad guys here! Didn't you see that Heartless attack you?"

"I don't care about them. I only care about Roy!" Litchi hopped left, leaving Matenbo behind. "Thirteen Orphans!" The rod transformed into a roughly humanoid form that ran at Hayner, flailing its rounded arms. Hayner struggled to hold off the assault, which only ended when Arakune attacked Litchi from behind with a sharp-clawed spider leg. "Don't worry, Roy. You're just confused. I'll fix this...somehow."

"Okay, that settles it - they're both crazy. Sorry about this, Miss!" Hayner tried to swing the flat of his sword at Litchi's head to knock her out, but he was forced to jerk back when a small, sharp nail flew past his face. The projectile bounced off the street, then exploded. The explosion had more smoke than fire, but did its job of separating the two combatants from each other. "Hey! Who threw that thing?"

"Secret Art: Bang's Shadowstep Jutsu!" A puff of smoke preceded another newcomer appearing between Litchi and Arakune. Arakune's next lunge landed on the newcomer's metal wrist bracers, which flipped over his fists to enhance a two-handed punch that flung the gooey menace off him. "SUPER CRITICAL CRASH!"

The newcomer was wearing - "Garbed in the praise and hopes of the people of Ikaruga, a hero of love and justice appears! Never fear, my beloved Miss Litchi! I, BANG SHISHIGAMI, will protect you from these foul beasts, no matter how many monsters dare to bare their claws at you!"

"No, Bang! Don't hurt Roy!" Litchi recalled her staff to her side and swung it at Bang with all her strength.

BANG SHISHIGAMI was caught by surprise; after all, who would ever expect such a vicious attack from the one they love? The loud ninja was thrown headfirst into the wall of the Synthesis Shop, followed by a muffled yell from inside.

"No! My last Premium Orb is ruined, kupo!" The Moogle shop owner flew out the front window on his tiny bat wings and screamed at Bang, "You vandal! COMPENSATE ME, KUPO!" The little fuzzball shut up and flew away at the sight of the various monsters, though. "Ah! Don't eat me, kupo!"

"My apologies for the accidental property damage, little...flying pom-pom thing, but I must away! My soul calls me to battle for love and justice!" Bang dashed back into the fray, this time blocking Litchi's kicks to protect Hayner. "Young man, how did you end up fighting Miss Litchi?"

Hayner retorted, "How should I know? All of this came out of nowhere! Are you two - er, three - even from this world?"

Even as he blocked Litchi's persistent, if halfhearted, attacks, Bang considered that question. "Hrrm? This is another world? Yes, it is just like it was back then! Er, back when? My mind is overwhelmed with strange memories! But even so, one thing is clear to me - we outsiders must not tarry here! Our problems are for us to solve! And you, Miss Litchi - how could you attack an innocent child in the name of your love for this monster, whether he was once a man or not? To do this is to twist and desecrate the very notion of love! SUPER CRITICAL CRASH!" Again, Bang threw his burning, two-handed punch, but only once he was sure Matenbo was in position to block the attack.

Litchi chuckled sadly as she danced away from Bang's fists. "Bang, normally I'd humor you a little longer, but you really do talk too much. You won't make me change my mind about him! All Green!" A pillar of fire suddenly burst from the ground beneath Bang's feet, carried him up into the air in a massive green fireball, then crashed back down with the ninja in tow. "Give up, Bang! I'd rather not hurt you, but I will if you don't leave me be!"

The flames from the attack licked along Bang's arms and burned away part of his shoulder pads, but the man himself only seemed more enthusiastic. "Hurt me? This attack is but smoke and whispers compared to the loud, burning fervor of my soul! In the name of that ardor that burns in all great men, I swear that I, BANG SHISHIGAMI, will save you too! The selfsame corruption that reduced your Roy to a monster has taken hold of your own soul, Miss Litchi, and if you continue on as you are, you will only share his cruel fate! I cannot let you continue to chase Arakune's beguiling shadow into the abyss of the Boundary! Now, feel the righteous force of a true Ikaruga ninja! My brilliant plan to end this battle begins...NOW!"

Bang's fists caught fire, and he put his all into the next string of attacks, punctuating each solid blow with another loud proclamation. "As swift as the wind! As still as a forest! Hotter than flames! As grand as a mountain!" Fire burned in Bang's eyes as he hovered into the air, surrounded by four burning kanji seals. "Shishigami Style Forbidden Art: FU-RIN-KA-ZAN!" Bang was surrounded by a glowing, golden aura, and he began to speed up even more. Before Litchi could react, he had dashed through the air over her head, smashed Arakune into a wall, then hit him on the rebound three times to launch the monster towards the tunnels. "To rid this world of evil, I will become...THE HAMMER! OF! JUSTICE!" Lowering his head, Bang charged like a raging bull and shoved Arakune into the tunnels. Manly man and slimy monster barreled down the ramp and through the same Time Break that had led Orient Town's craziest love triangle to the Heart Timeline in the first place.

"Roy!" Litchi immediately stopped attacking Hayner to chase after her frenemies and return to the Azure Timeline, with her hair and skirt waving behind her.

Hayner just stood there and stared after them for a moment. "...Were they for real?"

"I dunno, but the Heartless are real enough!" Olette's call returned Hayner to the matter at hand.

"Don't worry about the Time Break, fellas - I'm on it!" King Mickey flipped onto the scene and whipped out a radio. "Professor Kokonoe, I've found a Time Break. Can you get Tager over here to fix it?"

*Click.* "Who are - you know what, never mind. Just stand still and let me track the Break's position from here. It'll take thirty seconds."

Mickey now had to stand still for a while. Hayner and Olette moved to guard the King from the Heartless."Don't worry! We'll keep them off you! You're Sora's friend, right?"

"Yep! Thanks, fellas! I owe ya one!" As Hayner and Olette focused on the Heartless, Mickey took advantage of the wait to charge up his next Light spell. The one major drawback to the King's fighting style was how long his powerful spells took to charge up; the more he could charge while out of danger, the better.

The Neoshadows kept stacking up, slowly but surely increasing their numbers from the puddles left behind by the StreetSweeper. Hayner and Olette still kept up a stalwart defense, but they were gradually being forced back...

*Click.* "Coordinates locked in! Aaand click!" The Time Break vanished just as Mickey finished charging. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have some unfinished business with Terumi..."

"Thanks, Kokonoe!" Mickey turned off the radio and summoned the Kingdom Key D. "It's about time I did my part! LIGHT!" He released a massive wave of Light that washed over the whole area, erasing the remaining Heartless and the puddles of Darkness that were spawning them. "That should do it! This place is safe now. I gotta meet up with Sora so we can take this fight to the enemy!"

 **VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

 _With Sora, Donald, and Goofy: Back Alley..._

Xigbar's teleportation had shunted Sora's group halfway back to their starting point, but luckily, there weren't any more Time Breaks around. Sora was about to run back to the woods when Pence came rushing to the Usual Spot.

Sora pushed aside the curtain and followed the other boy inside. "Hey, Pence!"

"Hey, Sora! Can't talk right now; gotta get our defenses up!" Pence reached behind the couch in the Usual Spot and found a big red button. "Aaand CLICK! Our turrets are online! Gotta focus the cameras... Those Heartless that came out of my StreetSweeper won't stand a chance when the turrets lock onto...hey, they're gone! Well, that's a relief."

Donald quacked, "Don't turn 'em off yet!"

Goofy clarified, "That guy from Organization XIII is still here somewhere! We've gotta be ready for his next move!"

Sora added, "And it would be nice to find out where he's hiding, if you can."

Pence gave them a thumbs-up. "Gotcha. It seems like he's trying to keep you away from the old mansion, so I'll start looking around there...Uh-oh."

"What's 'uh-oh?'" Donald asked. He tried to stretch and see Pence's monitor (which flipped out of the wall when the button was pressed), but he was too short.

"A bunch of Heartless are coming out of the mansion! It looks like you'll have to fight your way through them all to get inside."

Sora peered at the screen; the Heartless horde was composed of half convertible-car-like _Hot Rods_ and half exactly-what-they-sound-like _Aeroplanes._ "Aw, man, those are such annoying types! Well, there's no way they'll stop us now! Let's go, guys!"

"Yeah!" Sora, Donald, and Goofy did a three-way high-five.

"Good luck, guys! I'll try to help through the turrets. Leave the plane guys to me!" Pence gripped a chunky joystick and concentrated on the screen while Sora and friends rushed to the woods.

 **VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

 _The Woods..._

 _Sora and Riku: Defeat all of the Heartless!_

The woods were thick with Heartless when Sora and company arrived, shortly followed by Riku and Lambda.

Riku grimaced and raised his sword. "Where do these things keep coming from!?"

"Probably Organization XIII," Lambda guessed. "Xigbar said he and Terumi had been working together; maybe they learned something in the Azure Timeline that let them replicate Heartless?"

Sora grinned and charged into the thick of it, swinging his Keyblade. "Well, if they thought this would stop us, they've got another thing coming!"

"But what about Kingdom Hearts?" Lambda sent swords out into the horde, noting to her dismay that it took more than one sword to pop even the weaker Aeroplanes. Murakumo's power output was nearly zero. Luckily, Pence had set up turrets on some of the trees, and the lasers they fired finished off what Lambda's swords started.

"We'll just have to slay more of 'em than Sora does! Let's not tell him about the contest, though."

Lambda smirked, beeped once, then went back to stabbing Heartless. "Scoreboard setup complete. Current scores as of two seconds ago: 35 to 150, Sora's favor. Get in there and win one for us, dear!"

"Gotcha!" Riku flashed out of sight and burst up from the middle of a group of Hot Rods, sprayed them with Dark Cannon blasts, then ducked back underground to repeat the process with a squadron of Aeroplanes, working his way toward Sora.

Mickey called from behind them, "Hey, guys! Am I late?"

Lambda replied, "Not if you join in now. But please don't, Your Majesty. The Organization's counting on us defeating the Heartless with a Keyblade to build their Kingdom Hearts."

"Then just keep 'em off me! I'll charge up and sweep 'em all away at once!" Mickey began floating just off the ground, charging the Power of Light.

Lambda set up Spike Chasers and Gravity Seeds to hold off the advancing Heartless, but a revved-up Hot Rod rammed right through the field of Ars Magus to knock Lambda off her feet. Luckily, the Hot Rod continued targeting Lambda, not Mickey...and Riku had seen what it did.

"Get your tires off Lambda!" Riku used Zantetsuken to cleave through the Heartless in question along with all fifty of the ones roaming between him and his girlfriend, then returned to the main fight with renewed vigor and released a wide blast of Darkness, disintegrating a wide swath of them.

Mickey almost dropped his charging stance in shock. "What happened to Riku?"

Lambda looked upon the ensuing carnage with more pride than fear. "He's done this several times before, but only when I get hurt. I call it his 'general protection fault'; his perceived failure to protect me makes him mad at whatever hurt me, and he quickly makes it clear to them what a mistake that was."

Mickey sighed in relief and funneled his faith in Riku into the spell. "Well, that sounds like a fine use of the Darkness, as long as you don't make a habit out of getting hurt."

"Of course not." Lambda jumped over another Hot Rod to prove her point, then teleported into a counterattack. "Cavalier! Right, close-range Ars Magus is always more effective than ranged attacks because the research was focused on that from the start. Act Parcer Zwei!" Lambda dashed around to attack the Heartless directly, kicking Hot Rods left and right.

Sora caught sight of Riku blasting Heartless apart and fought his way over. "Hey, Riku, I think we should work on our combination attacks!"

Riku nodded and stood back-to-back with Sora. "Good point - we've never fought side by side like this, have we?"

"Well, there was that one time in Monstro's belly, but that was more like we were attacking separately at the same time. We'll need some real teamwork for the fights ahead." As Sora was reminiscing, he was still skillfully blocking and retaliating against the Heartless.

Riku slashed a Heartless, then motioned for a brofist. "Then let's practice! I've got an idea - follow my lead!"

Sora obliged Riku's brofist. "It'd better be cool, then!"

"C'mon, Sora, did you forget who you're talking to?" Riku led Sora into a flurry of ranged attacks on a single Heartless, then dropped back and showered a whole group with Dark Cannon, which Sora instinctively matched with Light blasts similar to Mickey's Pearl spell. "Okay, the warm-up's over!"

Riku activated Bladecharge, and Sora followed suit - despite never having used the technique before. He really was a quick study in combat; although he'd also seen Leon use it before, that hardly qualified as experience. Still, he kept up with Riku perfectly, delivering broad, sweeping strokes that never got stuck on Riku's sword.

"Nice moves, Riku! Now watch _my_ idea!" Sora used his Drive power to lift Riku and himself into the air and fly, then summoned thirteen swords of pure Light around them. The blades spun as Sora and Riku glided around, slaying Aeroplanes by the dozens. When the spinning ended, Riku coated the blades in Darkness and shot them out in all directions, homing them in on other enemies.

"Okay, time's up! Let's finish this!" Riku jumped away from Sora and threw Soul Eater into the air between them.

"Light!" Sora caught on and threw his Keyblade. The two weapons hovered in midair pointed at each other, and sent repeated bursts of Light and Darkness that collided between them, building more and more power until a wave of pure destruction washed over the battlefield. Sora and Riku landed lightly, caught their weapons, and did an elbow bump as the move ended. "That was awesome!"

"I think we should call that one All's End."

"I think you should call it overkill," Lambda called out from the sidelines. She gestured to the woods around them, which were completely free of Heartless, but also covered in concentric circles of scorched earth centered on the duo. Pence's turrets were also all wrecked.

Mickey channeled his charged Light into a healing spell, rather than the attack he'd planned. "Looks like you didn't need my help after all!"

Donald complained, "Aw, you didn't leave any for us!" Goofy peeked out from behind his shield and nodded.

Sora pointed ahead. "Well, the path's finally clear. Let's storm Organization XIII's stronghold!"

"Right! We sure won't have to worry about collateral damage there. I'll lead us where we need to go." Riku moved on, closely followed by Lambda. He whispered to her, "By the way, what was the score back there?"

Lambda replied, "Sorry, I lost track when you two started working together like that. I think we may have just giftwrapped a thousand extra hearts to Xemnas, though."

Riku scratched the back of his head in embarrassment. "...Oops."

"Don't worry; it's clear that you two fight brilliantly together. With that move, Xemnas won't survive long enough to use Kingdom Hearts even if he completes it."

 **VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

 _Computer Room..._

"Good point. Well, here we are!" The heroes piled into the Computer Room. "Lambda, set up the transporter."

"Acknowledged. Logging in...executing commands." Lambda generated a holographic keyboard and held her hands over it, and DiZ's computer whirred to life, along with the Virtual Twilight Town Transport Device in the corner. A blue beam of light and data shot down from the device. "Transfer port stabilized. We can go at any time."

Sora cheered, "Let's take this fight to Xemnas!" Everyone stood on the pad (which required Mickey and Donald to sit on Riku and Goofy's shoulders to make room), and Sora touched the beam of light, whisking the group into what was left of the virtual world.

 **VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

 _A/N: Dagnabbit, I promised this would be out_ faster, _not slower! Well, I hope you have a jubilant non-denominational winter solstice holiday, everyone!_


	26. There's Too Many!

**Silver Linings**

 **Chapter 26: "There's Too Many!"**

 _A/N: Work on this chapter started late at night on 1/12/2017, due to the usual procrastination and a few minor bouts of illness. On a slightly-related note Is anyone else hyped for_ KH 2.8 Final Chapter Prologue _to release in the States?_

 **VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

 _Virtual Twilight Town: Computer Room..._

When everyone could see again, Sora wondered, "Are we back in the same place?"

Lambda pointed at what used to be (a virtual copy of) DiZ's computer. "Not exactly."

Donald was impressed that the wreckage of the console was still sparking, even months later. Whoever broke this thing made quite a mess. Goofy eyed the broken glass on the floor, hoping he wouldn't trip over it.

Sora gazed at the mess, seeing a...memory...of the Kingdom Key striking this console over and over, held in hands like his, but with different accessories. "This is the other Twilight Town. Roxas' Twilight Town."

Lambda nodded. "Yeah. It took a bit of work from Riku and myself to keep it running, and only two rooms remain. Don't bother trying to go back upstairs. The path to the World That Never Was is in the next room through that other door."

"Then let's go. There's no point in lingering here." Riku led the way into the next room, where the greenish portal into the Darkness was thankfully still open. Everyone went through in single file this time.

 **VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

 _Betwixt and Between..._

The portal turned out to lead them not to the Organization's world, but to the strange in-between space Riku had seen during Kairi's kidnapping debacle. The area was less empty than he remembered, although that might have been due to his attention being focused on Kairi before.

The chief addition to the space was a gray pillar holding up a giant coffin-like box. Its open lid was marked with a Heartless Emblem. It seemed to rise out of a funnel of the weird energy that formed this space. Looking down into it, Riku could tell this abyss plunged all the way into the Realm of Darkness. All around it, portals similar to the one the heroes had come through led off into different worlds, though most of them were tiny and inactive.

A Soldier Heartless appeared, then jumped into the coffin, which promptly sealed itself shut. Darkness churned up around the pillar, soaking into the box.

Lambda shuddered as she recognized this setup. "I can't believe it! Is that a Cauldron?"

Riku asked, "A what?"

"It's a thing from the Azure Timeline. Cauldrons are places where the 'normal' world connects to the Boundary. They're not subject to the usual rules of time and space, and nothing good ever comes out of them. For example, the Black Beast came out of the first one. When Xigbar said he'd been dealing with Terumi, I didn't think he could have learned how to make a Cauldron!"

 _"Actually, that's the 'Extraction Program'."_ Axel appeared, chakrams in hand, but he seemed hurt and worn out. "Got it *huff* memorized?"

Sora shouted, "What are you doing here, Axel?!"

"Don't just stand there, destroy that thing before it's... Oh no, too late!"

The Extraction Program began to rumble. The Emblem brightened, and the lid opened with a hiss, releasing a dark fog and hundreds upon hundreds of Soldiers.

Riku shouted, "This is where all those huge hordes of Heartless came from!"

"Less alliterating, more attacking!" Axel threw his chakrams and created an explosion, scattering a group of Soldiers...but more enemies filled in the gap almost instantly. Axel was forced to jump backward as a dozen of the little guys jump-kicked at him simultaneously.

"C'mon, everyone!" Sora joined the fray.

Axel created a burst of fire to block Sora's path. "No, not you, Sora! You'll just let Xemnas finish his Kingdom Hearts. With the dirt I've dug up on him, I don't want that anymore."

Mickey violently shook his head and came very close to frowning in confusion. "But how could these things have hearts to free? They were just created!"

Axel responded mid-jump, "That's why Xigbar needed those notes on seithr compression. Lambda, can you explain? The rest of us are fighting!" Indeed, the Heartless had drawn Sora, Donald, Goofy, Mickey, and Riku into the fight as the monsters instinctively headed for the portals at the edges of the area.

"Scanning...Mechanism analysis complete. I see; it's drawing Darkness up from the Realm of Darkness, then compressing it until it forms real hearts. They seem to be really weak hearts with no Light at all, but they probably count towards Kingdom Hearts. On top of that...these hearts will never get the chance to become people, and all these new Heartless are going to throw the balance of Light and Darkness all out of whack. This thing, the Extraction Program, is an abomination! It's already been around too long; we have to destroy it right now!"

 **VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

 _Destroy the Extraction Program!_

Riku called over, "Okay, I think I get it...maybe. Good summary, Lambda! Some cover would be nice, too!"

"Do you really need cover?" Lambda asked, even as she sent some swords into the throngs of Heartless around Riku. None of the Heartless were destroyed. Lambda looked on in disbelief. "Are my swords doing any damage at all anymore?"

"Don't cover me, guard the King! Mickey, use that really big Light spell to wipe all these Heartless out at once! Sora - "

Sora cut in, "Right! I'll smash the big machine as soon as there's an opening!"

"What about us?" Donald asked.

"Help me cover the King," Lambda called. "I don't think I can beat the Heartless on my own anymore."

Goofy hollered, "Sure thing, Lambda! Don't worry, Your Majesty! We'll cover ya!" Donald and Goofy rushed to Mickey's side and stood fast against the hordes of Heartless, which barely slowed down for Lambda's barrage of summoned swords.

The Soldiers all leaped at the King, but bounced off of Goofy's shield one by one, after which they were obliterated by a Donald Thunder storm. "Take THAT!"

Mickey completed his charge and began to glow. "Thanks, guys! Okay, get ready, Sora! LIGHT!" The wave of Light washed away all the Soldiers on the side of the pit facing Mickey, but the attack petered out just before hitting the Extraction Program itself. That hardly mattered, though, because Sora was already double-jumping through the air and readying the Keyblade to attack the source of the vast majority of Heartless in the worlds he'd visited. Everyone leaned in to watch what was sure to be an awesome combo...

 _*Snap!*_

But Sora was tackled to the ground by a group of Dusk Nobodies. Seven Dusks hit him out of the air, and dozens more kept appearing and piling onto him.

"Oh no you don't!" Axel threw a blazing chakram to burst all the Nobodies on top of Sora, then pulled the Keyblade hero to his feet. "This must be Sai'x's work; I've got his finger snap memorized. Come out and face us, _friend_ of mine!"

The slimy voice of Sai'x echoed from somewhere unseen. _"Now why should I be the one to risk my life fighting a_ traitor, _when I have servants to do it for me?" *Snap!*_

A new legion of Dusks arrayed itself in front of the Extraction Program. The horde of swaying Nobodies stayed where it was, opting to defend the Program rather than attack the heroes.

Axel deadpanned, "I think I liked it better when they were on my side. Sai'x got me pretty good on the way here, too...fighting 'em all head on would be tough."

Standing beside him, Sora (who was still kind of miffed at Axel for kidnapping Kairi, recent events nonwithstanding) needled, "Feeling a little regret?"

Axel scoffed. "Nah, I can still handle these punks. Watch this!"

The Nobody Master of fire vanished in a burst of flames, reappearing right on top of the Extraction Program's coffin. To himself, he muttered, "I tried, Roxas. I tried. But I'm sick of it. I'm sick of all of this!" He brought both chakrams down on the lid, smashing it open. He jumped inside before the Dusks or Soldiers could react. "I'LL BURN IT ALL! THESE MONSTERS, THIS STUPID MACHINE, EVEN MYSELF!"

Before he knew what he was doing, Sora was running toward the column. "Axel, don't!"

"Stay back, Sora!" Riku zipped behind his friend and grabbed him under the arms, preventing him from getting too close to what inevitably happened next.

Axel went supernova. Jets of flame burst out of the coffin's walls one by one and roared out of the open lid. The whole structure bulged under the unstoppable force of the flames, and then everything exploded at once. The resulting conflagration put Vivi's Mega Flare spell to shame.

When the smoke cleared, Sora could only gaze around in awe. There was nothing left in Betwixt and Between but Sora and the other heroes. No Dusks, no Heartless, no Extraction Program, no Cauldron into the Realm of Darkness, no portals out to the worlds, and no... "Axel!" Axel laid on the ground right in the epicenter of the explosion. puffs of Darkness and Nothing rose from his body alongside tiny embers of fire. Sora knelt by the ex-Organization member's side and shook his shoulder. "Hey, get up! What just happened?"

Axel coughed up smoke. "Well...that's what happens when you put your whole being into an attack. Not that Nobodies actually _have_ beings...right?"

But what emotionless shell would sacrifice so much for a single attack? "That's...why did you do all that? Was it for me?"

Axel closed his eyes for a moment, raising alarm among those watching from the sidelines, but he was just thinking. "Huh, why _did_ I do all that? I *cough* didn't think any of this through, that's for sure. I...just wanted to see Roxas again. He...was the only one I liked. He was a better friend than Sai'x ever was, even before we all changed. When we hung out together...Roxas made me feel...like I had a heart. And I knew, if I could get through you, I could see him again...but..."

Axel suddenly got serious, sensing that he was running out of time to talk. "Kairi's in the castle dungeon. Go on, save her! That's why you came...all this way, right?" Weakly raising one arm, Axel opened a massive portal of Darkness. "Gate's open now. Gummi Route, too. Tell Kairi...that I'm sorry, would you?" His arm flopped back to the ground. All of his strength was gone.

Sora shook his head, shaking tears out of his eyes. "You can apologize to her yourself!"

"I'll pass. My heart just wouldn't be in it, you know? Haven't got one." Even at the very end, Axel managed to throw in a sarcastic, self-effacing joke. "Thanks for...for trying, though, Sora. Roxas...can you hear me? I guess we won't meet again like I promised after all. Sorry. I hope this makes up for it..."

Axel's body finally gave out, dissolving entirely into raw Nothing, leaving behind a Keychain that looked like his chakrams. Sora watched the last few embers rise toward the indeterminate top of Betwixt and Between, then grabbed the Keychain, stood and wiped his eyes. He equipped the **Bond of Flame** and pointed it toward the portal. "Let's go. Kairi's waiting for us!"

The others, who had been standing respectfully on the sidelines until now, rejoined Sora as they all went through the massive portal.

 **VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

 _The World That Never Was: Alley to Between..._

The portal led to a dark alleyway that was familiar to Riku. Rain rattled against the few streetlamps and gurgled down a storm drain. "This place again..."

Donald squawked, "Your Majesty!" Mickey had taken off running again.

Lambda groused, "Why does he keep doing that!? Wouldn't it be better for all of us to stick together?"

Riku reminded her, "DiZ - er, Ansem the Wise - is supposed to be here, remember? Mickey would want to find him the most."

Sora added, "And Kairi's waiting for us, too! Let's go, everyone!"

"You mean she's waiting for you," Riku replied. "You're more important to her than anyone else - even me. I accepted it long ago. Don't keep her waiting!" He shoved Sora forward, setting the party in motion.

 **VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

 _The Dark City..._

The city streets were a winding trail of neon signs and infrastructure, but there only seemed to be one path. The only things slowing the party's pursuit of Mickey were Shadow Heartless - loads and loads of them. Sora jumped over a group and kept going. "I can't afford to beat any more Heartless!"

Lambda called after him, "Don't worry! These are just Purebloods - they're clumps of Darkness that haven't stolen any hearts yet. You only need to worry about the Emblems, which are the kind Xehanort marked with that red-and-black Emblem."

Sora grinned and dropped back into the fray. "That's a relief! C'mon, let's smash 'em all!"

Donald objected, "Sora! We can't waste that much time!"

Riku had to admit, "For once, Donald has a good point! We have to save our strength for the Organization. We just have to beat enough to get through." He swept aside a group of Shadows with Soul Eater.

"Hey! What do you mean, 'for once?' Blizzaga!" Donald launched a big chunk of ice that ripped open a group of Heartless and cleared a path.

Goofy charged shield-first through a clump of Heartless. Looking back at the group, he called out, "Looks like a big clearing up ahead! Be careful, guys! The Organization could pop out at any time!"

 **VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

 _Memory's Skyscraper..._

Riku paused upon entering the clearing, remembering the last time he'd been here. This was where he'd fought that brutal battle against Roxas; where he'd finally claimed full ownership of the Darkness in his heart, including the Darkness not-Ansem added. There was still a heavy sensation of importance here.

Sora, meanwhile, gazed up past the top of the Skyscraper at the heart-shaped moon in the sky. "What's that?"

The heroes were jolted out of their reveries by Donald and Goofy. "Sora! Help!" They'd been surrounded by Samurai Nobodies in an instant!

Sora moved to attack, but was stopped by a phenomenon he'd almost forgotten.

 _My liege...have you returned?_

"Huh?" The words of the Nobodies in his head; Sora hadn't experienced this since he first woke up and started his latest adventure.

 _"Stop!"_ A new voice rang out over the clearing, but it wasn't just a call to order. It was an actual Stop spell that froze time for everything and everyone except Sora. Raindrops hovered in midair. Donald and Goofy were paused in the middle of jumping for attention. Even Riku was affected. The caster, a boy in a Black Coat who was no taller than Sora, appeared from a portal that differed slightly from the Organization's usual Corridors of Darkness.

Sora recognized that voice, but from where? "Who are you?"

"..." Rather than reply, the stranger summoned a Keyblade! Sora recognized it as **Oblivion** ; A Keychain based off a symbol for Darkness that Sora had found near the end of his first adventure.

Sora was shocked by the revelation long enough for the stranger to make the first move. He stepped in and brought Oblivion down in a two-handed overhead swing, bearing down against the Bond of Flame as Sora desperately blocked the attack. The sight of Sora's new weapon seemed to enrage this unknown enemy, who pressed down harder and harder until Sora could focus on nothing but keeping that dark Keyblade away from him.

 **VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

 _The Station of Awakening..._

 _Defeat the mysterious enemy!_

Suddenly, the stranger backed off, causing Sora to stumble. Sora realized that he wasn't where he'd been before. The stained glass pillar and the clouds of Darkness around them were so familiar, though, and not just because the glass image depicted Sora and his closest friends.

"This is..." 

The stranger finally spoke for the first time since his dramatic entrance, and once again Sora was struck by how familiar his voice was. "That's right. It's _your_ heart. You've been to the Station of Awakening before, but you don't remember, do you? I bet you take having this place for granted."

Sora shot back, "No, my heart is my greatest treasure! It's where my friends live!"

The stranger only got angrier. "I know your friends are here. Mine are, too. Your heart is nothing but the abyss that consumed all my friends!" Then the stranger did something Sora thought was impossible: he summoned a second Keyblade into his left hand! Sora had dual-wielded Keyblades temporarily with his Drive Forms, but the real kicker was that this was the **Oathkeeper** ; a pure Light-themed Keyblade that was formed by attaching Kairi's lucky charm as the Keychain!

Sora frantically searched his pockets, heaving a sigh of relief that the promised charm was still intact and with him. "How do you have _THAT_ Keyblade?! Who areyou, anyway?"

"You mean you can't tell who I am? So you've come this far, and still you understand nothing!" The stranger crossed his Keyblades across his chest, charging up the Power of Light. Sora rushed in, trying to stop the attack, but the stranger didn't flinch when he was hit. Sora was ripped up and thrown backwards by a maelstrom of Light that surrounded the stranger.

Catching his breath, Sora muttered, "Your name. I have a right to know that much."

"You don't deserve to know. You don't deserve to _be!_ " The stranger leapt into a spinning attack, which Sora parried.

"And who gave you the right to judge me? What's your problem with me, anyway? Are you with Organization XIII?" Sora spun into a Vicinity Break, then jumped after the enemy and let loose an air combo.

"No more than Axel was. And like him, I died for your sake. What a mistake." The stranger spun his Keyblades to break out of the air combo and launched a ground combo of his own as Sora landed.

"But why? When did you...who are... This doesn't make any sense!" Sora tried to block, but two Keyblades proved faster than one.

The stranger suddenly turned into a tiny ball of Light and zipped to the center of the Station, surrounding himself with pillars of Light and a magic circle, all adorned with Nobody symbols. "Then figure it out with your Keyblade like you always do! Or your oh-so-powerful heart. How did that line go? 'My friends are my power?' Let's see your friends block this!"

The stranger rose into the air and thrust Oblivion skyward, launching rays of Light that arced to the edges of the battlefield and fell over the edges. The clouds of gray Darkness all around the Station gave way to colorful twilight, but this seemed to be merely a display of the stranger's raw power. He levitated his Keyblades near his outstretched hands and spun them faster and faster. Each rotation launched an orb of Light that homed in on Sora.

Sora ran as fast as he could, using Dodge Rolls and Quick Runs, but was still caught by the barrage. It pummeled him relentlessly into the ground until he was sure his body (or this projection of it inside his heart) was badly burned in dozens of places, and the Bond of Flame flew from his grip to skitter across the floor. "How can...how can this jerk be so strong...?"

The attack finally ceased, and the twilight gave way to Darkness once more. "The Light is mine - my right as a Nobody Master. Did you think you could fight me with just your own Light? But you know, Sora, I thought you were stronger than that."

From the floor, Sora replied, "No..."

"Exactly." The stranger relaxed at his apparent victory.

But Sora wasn't done. "No, I didn't think I could fight you with my Light alone. But if you really know so much more about me than I do about you, you should know...I'm never alone."

Sora struggled to his feet. Incredulously, the stranger yelled, "What?! How many times do I have to beat you? Why do you keep fighting? What gives you the right?"

"You'll never beat me...because I have friends that need my help. And if I need theirs to beat you, that's fine by me." Sora stood up fully and summoned his Keyblade, shifting it back to its default Kingdom Key form.

"After all, my friends are my power. All of them! And all of them... _GIVE ME STRENGTH!_ " With this sudden yell, Sora engaged a Drive Form. Calling on the strength of everyone he knew, regardless of distance, his clothes returned to his favorite red, blue, and yellow color scheme as he entered Limit Form.

"Come on, then!" The stranger launched back into the fray, dissolving into a ball of Light that bounced from place to place, sending pillars of Light racing toward Sora every time he changed directions. "Let's see if that power of yours can trump mine! Tell me...tell me why he picked you!"

Sora used Sonic Blade to try to catch up to the stranger. Eventually, they ended up rushing at each other head-on. Time seemed to slow as a decisive clash neared... _Of course! He's like the Samurai!_

Sora won the duel and knocked the stranger into the air. "All this Light you throw around...it's from me, isn't it? No wonder I couldn't beat you with just my Keyblade. But that Light...is mine!"

Sora reached out to the stranger, and pulled those dual Keyblades toward himself from a distance. They were surrounded in glittering Light and floated behind Sora's back, ready to augment his next attack: Ars Arcanum. The stranger was struck with lightning-fast combos from three directions.

Sora finished the combo and let the extra Keyblades return to the stranger. "You know, I'd rather not fight you. Someone very special to me needs my help right now."

The stranger seemed to calm down. "I know. I...I also had someone like that. But I failed to protect her, and now I can hardly remember her face. For a while, I forgot her entirely...what kind of friend does that?!" Oblivion shook in the stranger's grasp.

Sora found he couldn't muster the same indignant rage as the stranger anymore. "I'm told I did that too. I think I did...but I don't remember. But if I keep moving forward, I'm sure I can meet that friend again...and make it up to her."

"I see...that's why he chose you. I gave up on it already, but you haven't." The stranger let his hands fall to his sides.

Sora reached out to the stranger. "You know, whoever you are, it's not too late. If you're really in my heart, I could try and help you too."

The stranger chuckled, but raised his Keyblades again. "There you go again, following your heart to the most ridiculous places. But I've got to see if you have the strength to see it through. Not just strength from your friends; you have enemies who will try to get you when you're alone and vulnerable. Show me that you can handle it on your own!"

Sora just grinned his goofy grin. " _Now_ who doesn't understand? I'm never going to be alone, because you'll be right here! Along with all my other friends!"

The stranger gaped at Sora from under his hood. "I can't even...why would I...when did you...I'm your... You know what? You win. I'll take you up on that offer." The stranger dismissed his Keyblades and stepped forward, presenting his hand for a handshake.

Sora laid his hand on top of the stranger's instead, in a classic "all for one, one for all" gesture. Then his hand was joined by two more, as Donald and Goofy joined the scene. Then Riku, Kairi, Leon, Yuffie...the pile of hands grew and grew until it frankly looked kind of ridiculous.

All the friends threw their hands up, and most of the images vanished. "So, now that we're friends, you mind telling me your name?"

The stranger just chuckled. "I think you already know, but I guess I can give you a hint." His Black Coat dissolved into Light, revealing black and white casual clothes and a mop of permanently-messy blond hair. Sora recognized him from the picture in Riku's clue box. "All things considered...you make a good Other. See you, Sora. Right now, I have friends of my own to join."

Roxas turned around and walked away from Sora. Light swelled around them, but Sora could make out the tall silhouette Axel alongside two short-haired girls, waiting for Roxas to join them. "Don't ever forget...we're a part of your heart, too." The Light became blinding, and Sora left the Station of Awakening behind.

 **VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

 _Sora's Heart: Station Tower..._

Roxas found himself sitting alongside Axel and Xi- "I had no idea Sora had a place like this in his heart!" He took a happy bite of sea-salt ice cream.

Axel laughed. "They say 'home is where the heart is,' but that's backwards. Heart is where the home is. Got it memorized?"

"Yeah, we've got it memorized."

"Me, too?" The black-haired girl asked from Roxas' other side. Her soft voice was tinged with worry.

Roxas smiled at her. Her face was blurry, but he knew he'd remember her soon. "Yeah! You have as much right to be here as the rest of us. After all, we're all friends, right?"

"Nah." Axel waited just long enough to freak the other two out, then continued, "We're _best_ friends. I promise, we're going to be together even when we're apart. Got it memorized?"

Roxas turned towards the sunset. "Yeah. And one day, we'll get to eat ice cream together for real. Right, Sora?"

The last of the anger and lingering doubts that had kept Roxas in conflict with Sora's heart until now finally dissolved. Roxas accepted his place in Sora's heart, completing the transfer of power that had been such a huge problem for DiZ's plans.

 **VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

 _The World That Never Was: Memory's Skyscraper..._

Sora blinked awake. He was standing in the middle of the clearing. The rain still fell on his upturned face. Looking around, he saw Riku, Lambda, Donald, and Goofy standing nearby. "What happened?"

Goofy responded, "Gawrsh, I dunno. You just disappeared. Then me and Donald had to fight a bunch of Nobodies."

Lambda smirked, "You mean Riku and I had to fight a bunch of Nobodies after they grabbed you two."

Riku matched her smirk. "You mean _I_ fought a bunch of Nobodies after they cut right through your attacks and knocked you down." 

Lambda slumped. "Right. That's exactly what I meant. Point: Riku."

Riku became serious. "That really worries me, though. Isn't there some way to fix it?"

"Well, I suppose I could put the IDEA Engine into Overdrive. It would only last a few seconds, though."

Donald griped, "Whatever. Where were you, Sora?"

Sora gave Donald a confused look. "You mean you didn't see that guy? The guy with the Keyblade?"

Riku replied, "You're the only guy with a Keyblade here...I think."

Sora mumbled, "But I know I fought him... Was it all a dream?"

"This would be an odd place to fall asleep," Lambda pointed out. "In any case, you seem to be okay."

Sora grabbed his chest, then nodded in relief. He murmured, "Right. I didn't realize I wasn't okay before, but now I am." Louder, he called to the group, "Let's go. We have work to do."

Lambda ticked off their outstanding work items on her fingers. "Affirmative. We have a castle to storm, bad guys to beat, plans to thwart, friends to save. Let's go to _The_ _Castle That Never Was!_ "

"How do you know that name?" Riku asked.

"We've been told it before by Axel and a few others, remember? But you're right; there's definitely something else putting the information in my head. We'll have to save figuring that out for later, though." Lambda now had another goal to look forward to alongside saving the worlds and restoring Xion.

 **VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

 _The Brink of Despair..._

"Classy name," Lambda mentioned.

"What name?"

" _The Brink of Despair._ That's this pit with the Castle floating over it. I keep getting the names of places and people put in my head. Now that I think about it, it's been happening a lot."

"Huh. Well, this is a problem. How do we reach the Castle way up there?"

Mickey called from the edge of the cliff, "The Keyblade will show us the path!"

Sora brandished the Kingdom Key, noting that it had changed back from the Bond of Flame. So that definitely wasn't a dream. "Sounds good, Your Majesty. Let's do it!"

The Kingdom Keys of Light and Darkness pointed at the Castle that Never Was in parallel, launching Release beams at the fortress. The beams stretched across the massive abyss below them and struck the Castle, which responded by extending a wide road of blue, shaped Nothing to act as a drawbridge.

Riku grasped Sora's shoulder. "Hey Sora, I think we should split up here."

"Huh? Why would you do that?"

"Lambda and I can fly. That castle is huge; we'll go in from another angle and cover more ground. I'll try to find Kairi and get her out of prison, and we'll meet up in the middle to take the fight to Xemnas."

"Namine and DiZ must be in there, too," Lambda added.

Sora wondered, "Namine?" He _knew_ he'd heard that name before...

Jiminy jumped off his shoulder. "That's the name from my Journal! 'Thank Namine.'"

"Right. I'll tell you later." Riku picked up Lambda and shot skyward.

Sora grumbled, "He gets all the cool moves..."

Mickey pointed out, "That just means you have a goal to reach, right? I wish I had a rival to help me get stronger."

"Yeah." Sora led the march up to the Castle That Never Was.

 **VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

 _In the dungeon..._

Kairi gripped the bars of her cell. The bars themselves were far enough apart that she could probably just jump through them, but the real barrier keeping her in here was the man standing on the other side.

"You're in luck," Sai'x greeted. "The hero of the Keyblade has finally come for you. He's invading the Castle as we speak."

"You mean Sora? Sora's here!" Happiness welled up inside Kairi.

"Indeed. However, I cannot allow him to reach you until Kingdom Hearts is complete, which I'm told it soon will be. In the meantime, you might as well make yourself comfortable."

Kairi glared at the Nobody. On top of the obvious reasons to hate him, such as having kidnapped her in the first place, there wasn't much in the cell to make herself comfortable. No bed, no chairs, no food. Sai'x dropped by once a day to leave a trio of bland nutrient bars and a cup of water. At least the yellow dog who led her off the Destiny Islands was still here with her, though she'd rather the Organization at least let the dog go. Kairi huffed, "Well, you might as well go fight him. He'll beat you all, you'll see!"

"I highly doubt that." Without a farewell, Sai'x left through a Dark Corridor.

The wooshing noise from formation of a second Dark Corridor was almost lost in the dissipation of the first, but Pluto's ears caught it and perked up. An unfamiliar blonde girl in a white dress leaned out of the Corridor. "This way! Hurry!"

Kairi hesitantly hoped this stranger was on her side. "Who are you?"

The girl held her hand out insistently. "My name is Namine, but there's no time to waste! C'mon!"

"Alright...I'll trust you." Kairi took Namine's hand and let her yank them back through the portal. The yellow dog just jumped through and ran ahead.

 **VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

 _Naught's Ascension..._

Riku and Lambda circled the Castle That Never Was, searching for another entrance. They saw an exposed path along the outer wall, but the Darkness swirling along the floor almost made them keep looking for a safer route...until Riku spied a bright patch of pink. "Looks like we've found her. And the other her, too."

Lambda scanned the two girls on the walkway. "Targets confirmed as Kairi and Namine. Alert! New target inbound; identified as Sai'x."

"Well, time to swoop to the rescue!" Riku put up his hood (just to look cool) and proceeded to swoop.

 **VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

 _On the walkway..._

Namine pulled Kairi along by the wrist, intent on getting to the Castle's bottom floor. She would have evacuated the world entirely, if not for two things.

First, Sora was here. The reunion between him and Kairi had definitely been delayed too long.

Second, Xemnas' magic defenses prevented anyone from teleporting, even via Dark Corridor, unless Xemnas allowed it. The extent of his control over the fabric of this world was downright terrifying.

Speaking of Dark Corridors, Sai'x appeared from one directly ahead, cutting off the girls' escape route. Two _Berserker_ Nobodies flanked him, blocking the entire walkway. "Ah, the traitor Namine. How nice it is to finally meet you. I'm afraid I cannot allow you to leave, especially not with the Princess."

"You won't stop us here!" Kairi and Namine raised their fists and prepared to fight barehanded if they had to.

Sai'x merely quirked a blue eyebrow. What exactly did these frail girls think they could accomplish like that? "If I had a heart, this would be where I die of laughter. But unfortunately for you, I don-"

*WUMPH!*

Sai'x was tackled off his feet by a girl Kairi had never seen, who came literally flying in from over the edge of the walkway. "Minimal damage inflicted. Primary objective 2: rescue Kairi, in progress. Geez, I'm stuck just tackling people now."

Meanwhile, another man in a Black Coat leapt onto the balcony and made short work of the Berserkers, ripping them apart with a demonic-looking sword.

Kairi had been conditioned by recent events to be wary of people wearing that Black Coat, but she recognized his weapon, somehow. That's right, it was from the impressions she got while she was part of Sora's heart. But that would mean...

The mystery man suddenly bull-rushed Sai'x, slamming him into the castle wall and cutting off Kairi's train of thought. Namine called out, "You can take it from here, Riku!"

Kairi gasped, "Riku?!"

Sai'x grinned and laid a hand on the wall behind him, forming a Dark Corridor to fall into and escape. Riku prepared to give chase...but he was stopped by Kairi grabbing his wrist. "Riku!" She spun him around, noting that he let her have her way just as easily as back then, and removed his intimidating hood.

Ansem's face stared down at her. "What...?"

Riku used Ansem's voice. "It's the fate of those who fall to Darkness." Then he switched back to his normal voice and smiled as warmly as Ansem's face could. "But I'm still me. You can mostly thank Lambda for that."

"Point: Lambda. We're now tied at 11 points each."

Kairi looked over at Lambda. "Oh? Who are you?"

Lambda waved back. "I'm Boundary Interface Prime Field Device #11, Anti-Sankishin Core Unit: Lambda, but you can just call me Lambda. Riku and I have been traveling together...basically ever since you last saw him. We're a couple now."

"Okay, um, Lambda. This is all very sudden..."

Riku rolled his eyes. "I'll tell you all about it later. Meanwhile, we need to get you to Sora and defeat the rest of Organization XIII."

Kairi became even more excited. "Sora's really here?! Did you hear that, Namine? Sora's here!" She grabbed Namine's wrists and bounced up and down...causing Namine to waver like a mirage.

Lambda solemnly asked, "...Is it time, Namine?"

Namine stopped wavering for a moment. "Yes. Kairi, I'm a part of you that you lost a long time ago. Now, it's time for me to go back to where I belong." She closed her eyes, smiled serenely, and began to glow with a white Light that spread over Kairi. Namine vanished, and Kairi suddenly clutched her chest.

"Is she still there?" Lambda asked. "I might need her help with Xion...and I wanted to critique her choice of adventuring clothes. What was that about it being too cold? We're way up in the atmosphere, and you were still in the same dress!"

Namine's soft giggle seemed to resonate from Kairi. _"I hear you, Lambda."_ A translucent image of Namine appeared, standing next to Kairi. "I can still appear like this, but I'm not sure for how long. Just call me when you're near Sora and ready to get to work, and we'll save Xion together."

Kairi smiled at Namine's image. "Hmm...This is a weird arrangement, but I could get used to it. After all, who wouldn't want a friend who's always there?"

Namine giggled and disappeared in another white flash. _"Me too. I've always wanted a friend."_

"Alright, let's head to Sora! Hang on tight, you two!"

"No no no, _please_ don't drag Kairi along with your super-speed! Is that how you treat a Princess?"

Kairi griped, "I'm _not_ a Princess! Well, I suppose technically, but...it's confusing. I wish I could do all the rough-and-tumble adventuring stuff you and Sora do, but I always get left behind!"

"Well, that's two votes for, one against. Sorry, Lambda."

Control protocol activated. "Affirmative. Prepared for speed burst."

"Here we go!"

 **VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

 _Sora: Head to the Hall of Empty Melodies!_

Sora, Donald, and Goofy fought their way through the Castle That Never Was from the bottom up. Along the way, they were attacked by varieties of Nobody that they'd never seen, such as _Sorcerers_ , which just floated in midair and let their eight invincible force-field cubes handle attacking and defending. The cubes wouldn't let up in their attacks when the Sorcerers were hit, and their main body proved immune to every kind of magic Sora tried to throw at them. Still, they were easy enough to dispatch once he got past the cubes' line of defense. Through groups of Sorcerers and an elevator ride plagued by Xaldin's old _Dragoons_ , Sora kept moving. This was the final world to clear before he could finally reunite with Kairi and head back to the Islands with his friends!

The next area was a catwalk and staircase across a surprisingly large empty space. It was like the Castle was mostly hollow. The outer walls loomed around them in the distance...and a Moogle in a Black Coat greeted them from nearby.

"Hello...kupo. Would you like to buy my wares, kupo?"

"Wait, are you with the Organization?"

"That's of no importance, kupo. My associations with them are strictly for the munny, kupo. You have munny too, don't you, kupo?"

"Uh, I guess I do." Sora pulled out the King's munny pouch, now bloated with unspent munny that had been dropped by the Heartless. "I'd like to buy the strongest staff and shield you have in stock for my friends Donald and Goofy."

"One Victory Bell and one Knight Defender, coming right up, kupo. That will be 4000 munny, kupo. Will there be anything else, kupo?"

"Just ten Hi-Potions, please." Sora handed over the munny, the Moogle handed over the goods, and the party was ready to go.

 **VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

 _The Hall of Empty Melodies..._

Sora charged ahead onto a large platform surrounded by a deep, dark pit. If the Organization was going to show up, this would be the perfect place...

"Well, done, Sora." Right on cue, Sai'x appeared on a balcony above them. It looked the path through the Castle wrapped around to pass through this room twice. "You've surpassed our expectations."

Sora yelled up at the Nobody, "I don't care about that! Where's Kairi?"

"Who knows? I expect she's catching up with her friend from the Darkness."

"Friend? Who are you talking about?" Donald questioned.

"She doesn't need you anymore," Sai'x explained, still in that utterly calm tone.

"Am I supposed to believe that?!" Because Sora didn't buy that tripe for a second, especially since he'd already spent most of his munny.

"Well, you don't have to...but you can believe this: Organization XIII has no further use for you." Grandiose undertones finally began to creep in underneath Sai'x's glacial calm. "Just look there! Our Kingdom Hearts is nearly complete!" Sai'x swept a hand upward toward a skylight on the ceiling, pointing at the heart-shaped moon hanging in the sky. "Thanks to your struggles against the Heartless created by the Extraction Program, we've collected countless hearts. Can you hear their euphoria?" Sai'x seemed to be getting a little _too_ into this. "Now all they need is one more helping from the Keyblade bearer!" And there was the ultimatum. Sai'x snapped his fingers as usual, and pools of Darkness bloomed on the walls of the room. Shadows dropped down from them in droves; they wouldn't count towards Kingdom Hearts, but a platoon of Armored Knights joined in.

"We gotta fight!" Donald yelled.

"But...Kingdom Hearts!" Sora blocked a sword from an Armored Knight, and was quickly dogpiled under a heap of Shadows. "Get off...!"

"Sora!" That was Kairi's voice! "Sora! It's really you! Hold on, I'm coming!" She leaned over a balcony high above the battle, then fearlessly jumped onto the next lowest level. Still, she was immediately surrounded by Shadows. Driven by his desire to protect her, Sora managed to shake off the Shadows, but was surrounded by the Armored Knights again.

 **VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

 _Riku: A few moments earlier..._

Riku's burst of speed led them down a side passage that he didn't really have time to make note of. They ended up on a high balcony overlooking what was obviously an arena. Sai'x and Sora's voices could be heard echoing across from and below them, respectively.

Kairi gushed, "That was amazing! What a rush!"

"At least _you_ had a great time," Lambda grumbled.

Riku raised a hand. "Shh! I think Sora's in trouble!"

Instead of being stealthy, Kairi immediately ran forward, announced her presence to the whole World That Never Was, and jumped off the balcony. When Riku saw her get smothered in Shadows, a protective instinct sparked to life inside him. It was just like back when he was working with Maleficent, but less possessive. After all, he already had a girlfriend...but these monsters had no right to take his other friends, either!

A pink flash of Light briefly illuminated Riku's hand, prompting him to look down...at the girliest Keyblade he'd ever seen, the **Destiny's Embrace**. It looked like the gardens along the mainland on the Destiny Islands were compressed into a key; it had a predominantly pink color scheme with a blue and a yellow-pink stripe running up the length of the blade. A bundle of colorful wildflowers formed the "teeth" of the Keyblade. The Keychain was a miniature, star-shaped Paopu fruit.

Wielding this weapon would have ruined Riku's reputation forever. Luckily, he could tell it wasn't really his. It was the lost Keyblade from Xemnas' secret room, given a new form for its chosen owner. Its "delivery boy" now had a job to do.

Riku leapt off the edge and cut apart all the Heartless with the Keyblade in the blink of an eye, freeing Kairi from under the pile of monsters. He pulled her to her feet and pressed the Destiny's Embrace into her hand. "Take it; it looks like this Keyblade chose you. Now what will you do with it?"

Kairi gazed reverently down at the weapon in her hands. "This time...I'll fight! C'mon, Riku! You know Sora's totally hopeless without us!" She ran up and slashed at the next Shadows starting to show up, and managed to kill each one she hit in a single swing. Funny; Riku remembered both Sora and himself taking at least three hits to beat any Heartless when they started out. It must have been the work of Kairi's pure Light.

"Yeah. It's just like old times...but better. Looks like you both beat me to it." Riku summoned his own weapon...which wasn't Soul Eater, but a Keyblade of his own!

Riku's Keyblade, the **Way to Dawn** , looked similar to the Soul Eater, but had a triangular blade instead of a curve. The "teeth" of the Keyblade were a lighter-colored blue angel wing hanging off the tip of the blade, and another pair of wings formed the handguard. The Keychain was the Heartless Emblem-shaped one that he'd found in Castle Oblivion. Those days felt like so long ago...but all Riku's waiting and atoning were finally about to pay off!

Lambda cheered, "I guess she only beat you to it by a little bit, huh? I'm so happy for you, Riku!"

"Thanks. Now we just need to get you a Keyblade of your own, and we'll be all set. Anything's possible!" Riku dashed forward to join Kairi in the fight.

 **VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

 _Side: Sora..._

The scene on the balcony overhead boggled Sora's mind a bit. He knew that was Riku up there, but it looked like Kairi and Ansem (the Heartless) were fighting off Shadows with their own Keyblades! "I gotta get up there! Get out of my way!" Sora non-lethally shoved an Armored Knight aside and headed for the next door.

He would have left Donald and Goofy behind, if the problems they faced hadn't started stacking up again all of a sudden. Maleficent's voice resounded from the balcony Riku and Kairi had just vacated. _"Why, Pete! This castle is perfect!"_ The evil fairy appeared in a burst of green flames, as usual.

"Hit the road, girly!" Pete appeared in a puff of smoke and immediately shoved Lambda off the balcony before she had a chance to jump. He then turned his attention to his mistress. "The setup's kinda nice, I guess, but what about all the Heartless? This in-between world's way too close to the Darkness! They ain't gonna listen to us here!"

Maleficent scoffed into a talon-nailed hand. "No matter. We don't need them, nor do we need these so-called Nobodies." She called down at Sora, "Boy! Do you hear me? Sweep these monsters away and destroy Xemnas! Then this castle will be mine!" With a shrill cackle, she vanished into another burst of fire, shortly followed by Pete.

Sai'x, who had been mostly unnoticed in all the hubbub, grimaced and turned away. "Will the intrusions never cease? Number II, it's your turn." Sai'x vanished into a Dark Corridor.

 _"Now, have you been a good boy?"_ This call-back to Sora's first encounter with Xigbar preceded a massive hail of arrowgun shots that destroyed all the remaining Heartless, letting their hearts escape. Xigbar appeared from another Dark Corridor. "Huh. It sounds like you haven't. Sora! Roxas!"

"Hey, did he just call me Roxas?" Sora wondered as an aside.

Xigbar continued, "You've really put Organization XIII in a pickle. I guess that must be why the Keyblade chose you. But man, did it pick a dud this time. You don't look like you're half the hero the others were."

"Who's he talking about?" Sora asked Donald.

"Don't listen! He's trying to trick you!" Donald yelled back.

Xigbar shrugged. "Trick you? As if. All I'm trying to tell you, _traitor_ , is that your time. Is. Up!" He swept his hands in an X shape and summoned his arrowguns to his hands, then leapt from the highest balcony straight to the arena, landing lightly. He grinned and hoisted his left arrowgun over his shoulder, while the other hovered near his right hand by his side. "You really shouldn't have betrayed us!"

Another battle began...

 **VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

 _A/N: You can probably tell that the Roxas fight kind of rebuilt itself as I was writing it, but I think the new version is an improvement. Only a few more chapters remain!_

 _The Extraction Program was an idea I've been waiting to include for a long time. The name comes from the Replica Program that created Xion, and the method (cribbed third-hand from Dr. Litchi and Colonel Clover by Xigbar and implemented by Xemnas) by which it draws up the Power of Darkness from the eponymous Realm to be compressed. I knew exactly how it would work, but at first, I had no clue what it should physically look like. Then the obvious answer hit me; it should look like a Cauldron._

 _To that guest reviewer asking if I would freaking update already: you should probably get used to this pace. I've never been able to go faster than about one update a month. This chapter could have gone on, but I cut it off to be able to post_ something _this month._


	27. Your Time Is Up!

**Silver Linings**

 **Chapter 27: "Your Time Is Up!"**

 _A/N: So close! We're almost done!_

 **VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

 _A few minutes before..._

King Mickey, having slipped in too fast for even Organization XIII to react, was already at _Naught's Skyway_ , the set of ramps outside the castle walls that led up to the second floor of the Hall of Empty Melodies. The ramps were chock-full of Creepers and the occasional Samurai, but this certainly wasn't Mickey's first rodeo. The servant Nobodies didn't stand a chance of slowing His Majesty down, much less stopping him.

At the top of the ramp, Mickey found the person he'd been searching for. DiZ was lying face-first under a pile of Dusks. Making short work of the enemies, Mickey offered DiZ a hand to get to his feet...or as far as Mickey's short stature could help the ex-enigma stand up. DiZ managed to get to his feet on his own. "Thank you, my friend."

Mickey admonished, "Why didn't you come to us before things got so bad?"

"Organization XIII's leader is the Nobody of Xehanort, my foremost apprentice. The burden was mine to bear."

Mickey wasn't fooled. "Is that all?"

DiZ shook his head. He'd never been able to hide anything from Mickey...but then how did he get away with concealing his identity in Castle Oblivion? Namine couldn't be to blame for all the memory troubles in the worlds, not when they started a decade before her creation.

No; that was a question for another time. "I won't deny there was more. I was...obsessed with thoughts of revenge. My apprentices took everything precious from me - my research, and my pride."

Mickey got worried. "Nothing good ever comes outta revenge."

DiZ chuckled. "Don't worry, Riku and that outsider...Lambda...set me straight in that regard. Thus, I must atone for all that those young people have suffered because of me. That is why I brought this." He took hold of a strange device that had been lying on its side next to him and set it upright. Then DiZ removed the bandages from his face, dispelling the illusion that hid his identity from Organization XIII. He had the same amber eyes, but his skin was much lighter than it seemed with the bandages on. His blond hair seemed slightly unkempt from spending who-knows-how-many days bandaged up, and he was in moderate need of a haircut. His well-trimmed beard was exactly how Mickey remembered it, though. Ansem the Wise was back in business.

But back to the device; how had Mickey missed that thing? It was painted mostly red and gold, and looked like a cross between a telescope, a crystal ball, a miniature galaxy, and a death ray. "What's that gimmick for?"

Ansem smiled at his masterpiece. "The Kingdom Hearts Encoder. It's a device to reclaim Kingdom Hearts and encode it as data."

Mickey tuned out; he'd never been good at techie stuff. But Ansem the Wise wanted to mess with Kingdom Hearts like that? "Gosh, sounds risky."

"I do not claim to know the outcome of this venture, either. The process of encoding hearts is incalculable...but as the inhabitants of my Twilight Town showed, anything that could conceivably grow a heart of its own will do so in its own way, making my goal even more difficult. I harbor no illusions that this device will be able to perfectly encode the thousands of hearts it needs to, but at minimum, it will inflict heavy damage to Kingdom Hearts, which should prevent Xehanort from achieving his goal. I just hope the fail-safes function as intended. Come, let us find an adequate vantage point to fire it."

 **VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

 _The Hall of Empty Melodies..._

Ansem hefted the Encoder under one arm and strode into the next room, where Sora, Riku, Kairi, and the rest were battling the Heartless. Ansem merely chuckled and turned around, poking a nondescript section of wall to reveal a side passage.

Mickey hurried after him, asking, "Gee, shouldn't we help 'em out?"

Ansem sighed. "Sora and Riku are together. We have no part to play here."

Mickey informed him, "They've been working together since a couple worlds ago. Lambda and my other friends finally got Riku to stop running away from Sora."

Ansem smiled. A real smile, not the sad ones that accompanied his usual laughter. "All the more reason to believe in them and their talents, then. Come with me, Mickey, my friend. I would like your company as I play my own role in this."

"Gosh, ol' buddy, you don't have to ask." Mickey was about to bounce ahead again, but Ansem caught him by one of the King's massive ears, dragging him back to the doorway.

With a teasing smile, Ansem asked, "My apologies, friend, but do you already know where we are going?"

Mickey rubbed his nose sheepishly. "Well, um, heh heh... I'll try to walk slowly this time."

 **VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

 _Meanwhile..._

 _Sora: Defeat Xigbar! Be sure to defend against his attacks._

Sora, Donald, and Goofy squared off against Xigbar...who suddenly vanished.

Riku called out from the next floor up, "Sora, look up! He's going to snipe you!"

Xigbar growled as he set up his combined arrow-rifle. "Ruin the surprise, why don't you!" He set his sights on Sora and launched a salvo of crystals, but Sora was ready for him and used a Quick Run to stay ahead of the shots. Xigbar realigned his aim. "Gotcha now!"

Rather than run away this time, Sora whipped his Keyblade around and batted the next shot back at Xigbar. Then he jumped after the rebounded crystal to hit it back again, but surprised himself when he managed something similar to Riku's flash-step move. Rather than ponder it, Sora warped twice more; the third whack knocked the crystal right into Xigbar's scope, stopping his attempts to aim through it.

"Clever little sneak! Do you have any idea how long it'll take to fix these guns?" Xigbar didn't seem worried.

"A long time, I hope!" Sora gestured for Xigbar to come down and fight him like a man...or a Nobody, or whatever.

"As if." Xigbar separated his arrowguns and swung them down to his sides, reloading them and repairing their damage with a pinkish flash. "There. All fixed. Now check this out!"

Xigbar warped back into the arena and simultaneously altered its structure like he'd done while fighting Riku's group in Twilight Town. The rectangular arena was now much shorter lengthwise, and had four holes in it. The new contours of the arena were covered by Dark Barriers, making sure Sora couldn't just jump over the pits.

"Heads up!" The Freeshooter fired into mini-wormholes, sending the shots to Sora's sides. Sora was in the middle of a Dodge Roll as soon as he saw Xigbar firing, though, and managed to avoid the attack.

Sora realized, "So that's your trick. Space powers, right?"

"If I said yes, would you hold it against me?" Xigbar fired more shots, which Sora blocked and returned. Xigbar took the entire volley to the face and lost his grip on his guns, which started spinning wildly but harmlessly over his head.

"Of course I would! You creeps kidnapped Kairi!" Sora moved in with an Aerial Dodge and laid into Xigbar with a full combo, ending in a flashy set of spin attacks. Xigbar lost his concentration, and the arena reverted to its normal shape.

(For those wondering, Donald and Goofy were there too; they tried to catch up, but Xigbar was too fast, either from his own teleports or from being dragged around by Sora.)

Xigbar finally managed to teleport out of the combo and get far away from Sora, teleporting again whenever the hero got close. "Agh! Yeah, that would get me banned from your friends list. Which was the entire point, of course. Shoving your Keyblade through all those Heartless to get to us really helped the Organization out! Now EAT THIS!" Xigbar recombined his guns and launched a massive blue energy bolt. The bolt missed Sora by a mile, but bounced off a Dark Barrier and headed straight for the Keyblade wielder, completely ignoring the physics for how things should usually bounce off surfaces. Sora hit it back at its source like the earlier sniper bolts, and did the same warp-step thing (which he decided to call Warp Snipe) to repel the attack two more times when it bounced yet again.

The reflecting bolt didn't do much damage to Xigbar, but Sora used the distraction from the last hit to get in another melee combo. The Keyblade wielder taunted, "So, do you have any more shot types I can hit back at you, or do you give up?"

"Give up? As if! I've got one more dance for ya!" Xigbar loaded his blue, defense-penetrating crystals and unleashed his Limit Break. The arena shrank to a tiny square, and Xigbar started firing wildly in a circle. Sora took to the air while Donald and Goofy hit the deck. Xigbar began teleporting around the sides of the arena and shooting inward, but the heroes stayed ahead of his aim.

"C'mon! Let's see how you dance, kiddo!" Xigbar floated in the center of the arena, firing countless crystals into wormholes that emerged from all directions. Just like Riku and Lambda before them, Sora and company did a good job of dodging...until they ran into each other. The shots focused on Sora, but also like before, the minor participant Donald negated the resulting heavy damage immediately with a timely Cure spell. Sora caught the exhausted Xigbar in one more combo, and finally felt that satisfying _thunk_ of his Keyblade finally breaking down his opponent.

Xigbar fell to one knee and dropped his guns. He was already beginning to fade. "I lost? Me?"

Sora asked in a calm, curious tone, "Who were the 'other' people chosen by the Keyblade, anyway?"

"Heh...wouldn't you like to know." With one final trolling smirk, Xigbar faded away.

Sora groaned, "Cryptic and annoying to the bitter end, huh?"

Donald got his attention. "C'mon, Sora, we've gotta catch up to Kairi!"

Goofy pointed at the north door. The bridges leading off the arena had returned upon Xigbar's defeat. "Looks like we'll need to go that way and hope it loops around."

"Yeah. Let's go!" Sora charged ahead.

 **VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

 _Hall of Empty Melodies: Second Floor..._

Sora pushed through the throngs of Creepers, Samurai, and Berserkers on Naught's Skyway, and got back to the Hall of Empty Melodies just in time to finish off the last pack of Shadows. "Riku, I made it!"

Riku smirked as he dismissed his Keyblade (while still getting over the realization that it was _his Keyblade!_ ), "Well, it's about time, Sora. _Someone's_ been waiting for you for months." He gestured to Kairi, who stepped forward with an unreadable expression.

Sora found himself suddenly getting really nervous; he couldn't look Kairi in the eyes. "Kairi...I'm sor-"

Sora's completely unnecessary apology was cut short by the girl of his dreams (and of the dreams Roxas had hijacked from him) running straight into his arms and hugging him for all she was worth. Kairi breathlessly mumbled into Sora's shoulder, "You're really here... This is real..."

Not knowing what to say, Sora opted to tenderly return the hug without saying anything.

Riku, of course, looked for a way to tease the adorable lovebirds. For a moment, it was just like the three of them were back on the Islands. Well, except for one very important addition to the group. "So, Lambda, wanna make out and show them what they're missing?"

"Do I?" Lambda rhetorically responded. She strutted over to Riku and stood on tiptoes to smooch him right on the lips, turning Sora and Kairi cherry red. Riku wrapped her up in his arms and enthusiastically returned the kiss.

"Get a room, you two!" Donald squawked with his usual bad temper. Goofy covered his eyes with his fingers, but he was peeking.

Riku broke the kiss and offhandedly replied, "Later; Sora and Kairi would need the room more. Seriously, Lambda and I are _way_ ahead of you in this whole relationship thing." Sora and Kairi graduated from cherry red to beet red.

Lambda confirmed, "Point: Riku-11. Current scores: SoKai, 1; Riku-11, 4. We've done hugging, kissing, and two dates, counting the resting time after Twilight Town was invaded, whereas you've just done hugging."

"Wait, did I hear that right? Not only did you start keeping score, but you came up with shipping names for all of us?" Kairi was still wrapping her head around the way Riku's girlfriend was sorta-kinda a robot.

"Yep. All of us humanoids, at least," Lambda unashamedly replied, then turned back to Riku. "I think I see why you like teasing people, dear."

"Then you should give us another point for calling each other 'dear,'" was all Riku had to say about it.

"Acknowledged. Do those times we slept in the same bed count, too?"

Jiminy Cricket got everyone's attention by springing up and down on Sora's spiky hair. "Hey! Sorry for interrupting, but maybe we should save this kind of thing for _after_ we're all out of mortal danger?" With almost perfect timing, a group of Sniper Nobodies appeared to avenge their fallen liege, Xigbar.

"Fine, fine." Riku summoned the Way to Dawn and prepared to fight, but Kairi was already in the fray with Destiny's Embrace. She managed to beat one of the five Snipers before any of them had a chance to fire, but one of them took aim at her back.

Sora Warp Sniped the shot away, destroying the Nobody that dared to fire at Kairi. "Don't worry, Kairi! I'll protect you!"

Kairi rolled her eyes. "Sora, I have a Keyblade now. I don't need you to _protect_ me anymore. I just need _you_. I never want to be left behind again."

Riku dismissed his own Keyblade, having polished off the other three Nobodies during that exchange. "I hate to break it to you, Kairi, but you _are_ still new at this, and we're right in the middle of one of the most dangerous places any of us has ever seen. You're off to a good start, though. Sora can definitely teach you the ropes, too." Warping to Sora's side, he added in a loud not-whisper, " _You're welcome._ "

"C'mon, lovebirds, let's go!" Donald march-waddled through the next door. Everyone else ran after him, hoping he hadn't gotten into trouble again.

 **VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

 _Proof of Existence..._

As it turned out, Donald had managed to _not_ ruin everything this time. The slanted room was empty, except for several weird metal markers arranged in rows like tombstones. Almost everything in the room was broken. On the floor in front of each marker was a silhouette of a weapon carried by someone in Organization XIII; most of the marks were red, but three were blue: a deck of cards, a big sword, and a pair of Keyblades.

Lambda puzzled out what it meant. "It looks like this room marks the status of the Organization members. The red weapons mean that member was eliminated, and their tombstones are broken. Hey, Riku, check out Zexion's." She gestured at the indisputably most broken mark in the room; the sign on the floor was burned, broken, and warped so badly that it was impossible tell what Zexion's weapon once was. "If I recall correctly, he got handed the most overkill of any of them."

"Totally worth it," Riku replied. "He was the one who played mind-games with me and pretended to be Sora."

"Hey, guys? Why is this tombstone glowing blue?" Kairi called everyone over to tombstone Number X, which was in perfect condition except for the middle of the marker being replaced with a translucent blue pane of energy.

Lambda scanned it. "Scanning...it's a portal. It'll probably lead us right to Organization XIII's Number X... Luxord, if I recall. He fought me once in Wonderland, but he got away."

Riku asked, "So, should we use these portals to beat the remaining members one-by-one?"

"I think we _have_ to," Sora called from the top of the slope. "This doorway's sealed, and the Keyblade doesn't work on it."

"Then it's settled! Sora, after you. Ladies first, after all." Riku stepped aside and chivalrously swept an arm in the direction of the portal.

Kairi raised an eyebrow at Riku as Sora returned to the group. "Excuse me? I'm the lady here, not Sora!"

"Just get in there, everyone." Lambda pushed from the back of the impromptu huddle, shoving everyone into the portal.

 **VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

 _Meanwhile, on Naught's Approach..._

"This spot should do." Ansem the Wise set up the Kingdom Hearts Encoder on a tripod, took aim at the moon, and activated the device. It fired a green beam that stretched all the way into the sky, connecting Kingdom Hearts to the Encoder. Dials and meters and globe-like spheres began to spin on various parts of the Encoder.

Mickey gawked at the device. "Is it workin'?"

Ansem frowned at one of the meters. "The connection is not quite stable. Some conversion is taking place, but the transfer rate is not one hundred percent. I fear for the lost hearts that cannot be fully encoded...but we must prevent Xehanort from laying claim to Kingdom Hearts at anycost."

Mickey nodded grimly...although he was still smiling, of course. "Hate to say it, but you're right. You just keep that machine runnin'; I'll keep a lookout for enemies."

Ansem held the Encoder steady; it had begun to vibrate an almost imperceptible amount. "Of course, my friend. Worry not; Sora will no doubt reach this place before long."

 **VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

 _Havoc's Divide..._

Everyone spilled out the other side of the portal and landed in a heap on a large, sloped balcony (except Lambda, who simply walked through). Sora groaned a long-suffering groan as he felt Goofy's shoes on top of him and Donald's tail poking his side; these dog-and-duckpiles happened all the time, but why couldn't his party ever stack up from largest to smallest, just for once?

Sora pushed himself out of the pile. "What's that?" He pointed up into the sky, at a green beam that seemed to connect a side of the castle they couldn't quite see from here to Kingdom Hearts.

Riku replied as he dusted off his coat, "It's the King and DiZ - I mean, Ansem the Wise. They're probably ahead of us. Let's hurry and find out what's sealing that door."

Lambda confirmed, "Ansem's secret notes mentioned that he was going to try and virtualize Kingdom Hearts, or something. From what I can gather, that beam only has a 0.0002 percent chance to work; we've got to get over there before the attempt blows up in his face."

 _"What's the hurry? I, for one, have all the time in the world."_

A swirl of Darkness preceded the arrival of Luxord, who immediately snapped his fingers and summoned two rows of giant cards that moved in front of and behind the pile of Sora's allies; when the cards moved all the way past the arena, they revealed that Sora and Luxord were now alone.

 **VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

 _The House of Cards..._

Suddenly, everyone except Sora and Luxord found themselves in a completely different area. The space was a perfect fifty-foot cube with walls made of Luxord's cards. Since the cards were taller than they were wide, they bent in half at the ceiling to keep the height and length of the room constant.

Oh, and there were about twenty of Luxord's servant Nobodies, the _Gamblers_ , in the room with the heroes. Everyone prepared for the battle...but it turned out to be underwhelming, since no new enemies replaced the defeated Nobodies. The Gamblers didn't even last long enough to attack.

"Is that really it?" Kairi asked. "I was expecting...I don't know what, but that seemed too easy."

"We're still stuck in here, though," Riku pointed out. "I think we have to wait for Sora to beat Luxord."

Lambda groaned. "This is going to be boring. So...anyone know any good jokes?"

Without missing a beat, Donald Duck replied, "Nope. Go fish."

Lambda stared for a moment, then burst out laughing. "Pfft... Ha! That...that was the perfect joke for this place!"

"Well, it's about time I got some respect," Donald smugly replied.

So of course, it was only a few seconds before a Time Break opened right over Donald's head, spilling a large visitor from the Azure Timeline on top of him. "Damn, should have watched that first step...Oh, COME ON! That portal led right from one doghouse to another? Is this Kokonoe's idea of a joke?"

The blue-haired man stood up, paying no mind to the anthropomorphic duck (whom he'd squashed as flat as one of the cards around him). He looked around at the crowd of kids around him, letting them get a good look in return at such features as his total lack of any shirt, his white coat that was worn more as a cape, his intricate full-body tattoos, and the muscles on top of his muscles on top of his _muscles_.

Riku nudged Lambda with an elbow, not taking his eyes off the intimidating stranger. "Do you know who this guy is?"

"Scanning...1 match found: Azrael. Identified as a human...Error. Anomalies detected. Physical strength: immeasurable. 1 Armagus found. Grimoire ID: Enchant: Dragunov. Limiter type; restricts threat level to SS. Maximum threat level without Limiter: unknown. Aliases on file: Mad Dog, Genocider, The Terror..."

Riku's pupils shrank. "Okay, I think I get the gist of it... You can stop scaring me now."

"Acknowledged."

Azrael glanced at Lambda. "Ah, so my reputation even precedes me here! If I'm not mistaken, you're a Murakumo Unit...but what's this? You smell... _weak._ Too weak; you're not even a light snack!"

Lambda scowled. "Don't rub it in. I'm working on it."

Azrael nodded. "Well, then, you're safe for now. It would be a waste to consume you now if you can still be toughened up for later! As for you two..." The Mad Dog turned his eyes on Kairi. "You have plenty of fighting spirit, but no real power yet. You look like you'll improve fast, too. But you..." Azrael grinned at Riku, showing far too many teeth. "You're the perfect appetizer to wet my chops while I wait! Come at me and let me sink my fangs into your flesh!" Donald and Goofy were frustrated and confused, respectively, that he didn't even mention them.

"Is the eating thing a metaphor, or - WAUGH!" Before Riku could finish his sentence, he was punched into a wall by Azrael, who seemed to simply appear in front of his enemy. Riku recognized a similar technique to his own flash-steps...after his head stopped ringing. But this enemy had no backing from the Power of Darkness, magic, or Ars Magus...he was just _that_ fast.

"Come on, you can do better than that! Hit me with your best shot; I'll give you a freebie!"

 **VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

 _Riku: Fight off Azrael!_

Riku got to his feet and summoned his Keyblade. "Fine. You asked for it!" He called up all his Darkness - every scrap of power he could muster. His shadow leapt off the ground behind him (but where was the light source to cast it in this place?), forming into not-Ansem's Guardian. The Guardian flew forward, then turned to face Riku, who summoned a blinding aura of Light. "All's End!" The Guardian's hands and the tip of Way to Dawn fired off opposing blasts of Light and Darkness, fueling the same pure destructive force that Riku previously needed to work in perfect sync with Sora to achieve.

Lambda recognized the attack instantly, and dove on top of Kairi just before the blast went off. Donald jumped on Goofy's back and cast Reflega.

When the blinding surge of power subsided, the cards forming the sides of this pocket space were all burned totally black, making the room appear to be an infinite black void. Lambda was burned all over, but not so badly that she couldn't repair herself, and she managed to save Kairi from most of the damage.

Donald had managed to perfectly time his spell to dodge the entire blast. Riku would have been impressed if he'd been looking.

However, Azrael still stood in the same spot, totally unharmed! His arms were raised over his head like a bear on its hind legs, and his tattoos floated off his body as a red-and-black aura. He relaxed his stance, and the aura turned back into markings. "In case you couldn't hear me over all that pointless sound and fury, I just used something I like to call Growler Field. I can expand the energy-absorbing effect of Enchant: Dragunov to absorb all kinds of projectiles. Just thought you should know. And also: Phalanx Cannon!" With a wave of his hand, Azrael launched a lump of that aura at Riku. The bolt traveled extremely fast, but the shadow Guardian managed to intercept it.

"Looks like projectile attacks are a no-go for both of us, Azrael." Riku raised his sword into his fighting stance.

Far from being disappointed, Azrael grinned gleefully. "Excellent! Now I have the pleasure of crushing you under my fists! Gustav Magnum!" He lunged forward with a fierce right hook.

Riku blocked it with the "sharp" edge of Way to Dawn (like any Keyblade, it was clearly a blunt weapon, but it could still cut through almost anything as though the key had an impossibly keen edge), but it didn't seem to do any damage to Azrael's fist.

Without missing a beat, Riku retaliated with a swing at Azrael's neck after flash-stepping behind him. This also did nothing, but Azrael used his own flash-step to reappear behind Riku in turn. That pattern continued, with the two combatants rapidly switching positions with each other and snaking backward around the room.

As he danced around the room, Riku locked eyes with Lambda, who realized what he needed from her. Perhaps the control protocol didn't need audible commands? Azrael, on the other hand, considered the other occupants of the House of Cards to be so far below his notice that he might as well have been alone with the dark hero. Riku was counting on that. Lambda started running her auto-repair and other internal functions.

Riku started zig-zagging around by appearing on Azrael's sides instead of behind him. As expected, Azrael was still able to follow Riku's every move.

"C'mon, kid. I know the chase is part of the fun of the hunt, but I'm getting bored. Stop running away or I'll MAKE you stop! SCUD...PUNISHER!" Azrael suddenly moved even faster, catching Riku with a palm jab to the gut...and leaving a visible dent in his abdomen. Riku doubled over in pain. "This next one's gonna hurt. Hornet Bunker!" Azrael knelt low, then slammed both fists upward into Riku's stomach, launching him right into the blackened ceiling. Then he jumped right up after him and delivered five more kicks to the same spot. "You were an amusing distraction, to be sure. But that's all you were."

From his position in a heap on the ground, Riku shot a lopsided smirk at Azrael and struggled to speak. "Y-yeah, I know. That was the...point."

Lambda spoke up. "Connection established. Kokonoe, I've got a stray dog here. His collar says 'Azrael'; is he yours? I'm sending you the coordinates."

 _"Goddammit, how did he escape!? Well, good job keeping him in one place. It turns out I've got just the plaything for him here on my bench! Now play dead, Azrael!"_ The Time Break that was still creeping outward from the very center of the room suddenly erupted with a ray of blue-white energy - Kokonoe had fired a souped-up freeze ray through the rift. It struck Azrael's readied Growler Field...and pierced right through, because any cold-based attack was a matter of taking energy and heat away from the target. At least, that's how it works with pure cold, as opposed to stabbing the enemy with ice like a Blizzard spell...

Azrael froze solid. Cracks were already appearing along the massive ice block in which he'd been imprisoned, but he flickered and vanished into Kokonoe's teleportation device (which had teleported itself under his feet; another masterpiece of science!). _"There. I'll keep an eye on his cell for any more sudden Time Breaks. Good luck with...whatever you're doing, Lambda."_ The Time Break closed thanks to Kokonoe's Time Breaker Mk. II, leaving only Riku, Lambda, and Kairi in the House of Cards.

Riku groaned, "Okay, that was a bit too much excitement. Next time we're all trapped in a pocket dimension, I'll vote for being bored."

Donald quacked, "Curaga! Now you can't tell me I didn't help!" Riku's and Kairi's wounds were healed, and Lambda finished her auto-repairs. And finally, the card-space began to shuffle itself to let the prisoners out.

 **VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

 _Sora: Defeat Luxord at his own games!_

Sora angrily summoned his Keyblade. "Where...?"

"I'd rather we just skip the formalities." Luxord slipped his deck of weaponized playing cards out of his sleeve and sent them looping around himself. Floating, translucent bars appeared over his head and Sora's. "The first to run out of time is the loser. Play well, and you'll keep your time while cutting mine; fail, and you'll suffer the reverse."

"For someone who won't tell me his name, it's awfully nice of you to explain the rules," Sora deadpanned.

"I prefer 'fair'. This next part will not be nice." Luxord cast a spell that turned Sora into a large die (the singular of "dice", not the present-tense of "died"). While Sora was still in shock at the sudden transmogrification, Luxord continued, "It's a dirty trick, but my Organization is at somewhat of a disadvantage with only three of us left."

Sora tried to move around, but could only do so by hopping repeatedly. Having few options at the moment, he jumped away from Luxord to avoid whatever his next attack would be.

Luxord simply stood there. "Don't squander your time! You've discarded your last move, while I still have many cards to play!" A group of three giant cards appeared around Dice-Sora, trying to cut into him with their edges.

 _My "last move"? Then there was something I could've done at close range..._ Sora decided to try jumping into one of the cards. As he thought, he was able to barrel right through it and break it apart. He could also feel the spell binding him into this ridiculous shape weaken as he dealt out damage, so he kept it up. Finally, the spell broke, allowing Sora to return to human form.

"My turn!" Sora launched a few Blizzaga spells at Luxord, but the spells didn't do much besides push the Nobody around. No wounds were inflicted, and Luxord's time bar barely decreased.

"Fine. Pick a card, any card. But do you know the rules?" Luxord created four cards behind him with their backs to Sora.

Sora pointed at the second one from the left. "That one?"

The card flipped around to reveal an "O" mark, whereas the other three had "X" marks. Luxord flinched as he glanced back at the result. "Good choice..." A swirl of blue magic surrounded Sora with numerals like the Stop spell he'd used back on his first adventure, and his time bar crept back up a little. Luxord was surrounded by a similar spell, only green, and his time bar fell. Now Sora had the advantage.

Sora capitalized on Luxord's shifted attention by moving in for a combo, which kept Sora's time bar static while Luxord's continued to fall. "It's over!"

"I won't fold yet. Take it from a time mage, boy: it's never over until it's over." Luxord turned himself into a card that tilted sideways to avoid the path of Sora's Keyblade, then summoned three more cards in a puff of smoke. "Watch closely..." The cards fell facedown and shuffled themselves along the ground, making Sora stumble away. Then the cards stood upright, presenting their backs to Sora.

"Second from the left again?" Maybe it was the same every time...maybe?

All three other cards seemed to say, "Not this time!" The chosen card revealed a red mark...and promptly exploded in Sora's face.

Sora shook residual ash out of his face and pointed at another card. "Okay...the one on my far right!"

"Ah, your luck has returned." Luxord revealed himself. The Nobody's time bar had fallen to a quarter. "I'd better step up my game!" He threw all fifty-two cards from his deck, scattering them across the arena. He then swept into a series of attacks while ducking under the cards.

Sora handily dodged the whole assault; this head-on rush was more his speed than those earlier wacky games of chance.

"The stakes are high now!" Luxord surrounded Sora with four enormous cards, showing one O mark rapidly shifting among three X's. "Catch four O's to win. Miss just one, and we'll play another hand...with your current time."

Sora poked the first O with his Keyblade easily enough. It stayed an O, and another O started shifting among the remaining three cards. Each time Sora got it right, the remaining marks sped up, leaving a pulse-pounding final choice as the last card simply alternated between X and O almost too fast to follow.

The key word there, however, was _almost_. Sora nailed the final O mark, and all fifty-two cards flew to his hand. He tossed them at Luxord, who took the full force of the entire combo, bumping his time bar down to nothing instantly.

"Congratulations...you play the game well!" Luxord's voice remained gentlemanly, as it had been the whole time, but his face was panicked as he summoned a tower of cards around himself as a desperate last defense.

"Game over! Give me back my friends!" Sora leaped at the tower and slashed right through it at the level of Luxord's neck. The card tower was cleaved in two, and Luxord collapsed.

"To think I'd lose to you...Roxas..." Luxord vanished into Nothing, but thankfully his other forty-eight cards remained long enough to sweep past the area and reveal Sora's allies, all standing in a group with confused expressions.

"Looks like you got him!" Riku clapped Sora on the back. "I knew you could do it!"

Sora humbly rubbed the nape of his neck. "Where were you guys? Were any of you hurt?"

Lambda answered, "We were stuck in Luxord's pocket dimension with a few Nobodies until you beat him. We also had to fight a nasty visitor from the Azure Timeline, but that's solved now, and we didn't get hurt any way Donald's spells couldn't fix. But it felt like we were in there for a long time. What took you so long?"

"What? I couldn't have taken more than three minutes; Luxord used his time magic to put a time limit on...oh, I get it."

"Oh," Lambda repeated in understanding. A powerful time mage like Luxord could easily make his pocket dimension run slower than the outside world. He probably used it to train when he wasn't kidnapping people. "How do we know he's actually beaten, and not just time-travelled back to before he kidnapped us?"

"We should go back to the room with the tombstones. That would clear it right up," Kairi suggested.

Riku teased, "Lucky you, Sora! She's a smart one! Maybe she'll round out your usual group of blockheads."

Sora retorted, "Yeah, starting with you. C'mon, let's get back inside. There's one other Organization member to beat before we can get to Xemnas...and we shouldn't keep the King waiting too long." After one more glance at the beam from Ansem's device, Sora led the way back to the Proof of Existence.

 **VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

 _A/N: Again, this took forever. There'll be at least two more chapters for Sai'x and Xemnas; I have some surprises stored up to go along with the absurdly long string of final bosses at the end of KH2, as well._

 _In the game, there's supposed to be a tearful reunion with Riku at this point, but since that already happened, more focus was placed on Kairi, who refuses to be left out again._

 _Luxord's fight is hard to render without mentioning a user interface. I tried my best to make a workaround, but I still feel like it's too much of a stretch._

 _See you all in...probably a month or two. I can hopefully work faster, since I've been visualizing the final few scenes of this fic for literally more than a year now, but Kokonoe's trusty Magic 8-Ball says "Outlook not so good."_


	28. Here You All Are

**Silver Linings**

 **Chapter 28: "Here You All Are."**

 _A/N: Once again, it's been about a month. Not much to say, other than: enjoy!_

 _Not much to say that won't spoil things, anyway..._

 **VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

 _Proof of Existence..._

Upon the heroes' return to the quasi-graveyard, two changes were immediately apparent. First, the emblem of Luxord's cards under their feet had turned red, meaning he was definitely eliminated. Second, the tombstone marked with the numeral VII and what looked like a large, ornate sword was now glowing blue - a new portal had opened.

Goofy looked over these changes and nodded. "Looks like y'all were right about how this room works. I guess Luxord's really gone, after all. C'mon, we only hafta beat Sai'x now!"

Sora tightened his fists and took the lead as everyone went toward the portal. "Good. He's the one I want to beat the most."

Lambda agreed, "He certainly earned it. Riku and I were there at the big Heartless invasion of Hollow Bastion...er, Radiant Garden. The things he said and did to you went beyond cruelty."

Donald cheered, "Let's give him a walloping for Kairi!"

Riku asked, "Anything you'd like to add, Kairi?"

Kairi thought about it. "Actually, no. He certainly wasn't nice, but he didn't do much besides kidnap me. Which is already a lot, of course, and that prison was no fun, and the nutrient bars were awful, but I don't want to kill him for something petty like that. He seemed like he was just doing his job."

Lambda reminded her, "Then that means he considers everything else he did his 'job', including trying to bring despair and destruction to everyone Sora knows."

Riku couldn't help but add, "Also, that incorruptible purity of heart that lets you give even _Sai'x_ the benefit of the doubt is making us all look bad. Even Sora's not _that_ nice."

Kairi protested, "It's not my fault I'm a Princess of Heart!"

Sora agreed, "Of course not! Don't ever change, Kairi."

To which Kairi immediately responded, "You neither, Sora."

The two of them started gazing into each other's eyes, but Lambda cut in, "So, are we going through the portal or not? Sai'x isn't going to eliminate himself for us, and we shouldn't keep the King waiting too long. Right, Sora?" He had been the one to say exactly that back at Havoc's Divide, after all.

"R-right! C'mon, everyone!" Sora rushed through the portal, followed shortly by everyone else.

 **VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

 _Addled Impasse..._

Lambda mumbled, "Now that's a weird name. Havoc's Divide was pretty cool, but Addled Impasse almost sounds humorous."

Riku commented, "Who names these rooms, anyway? Well, at least Sai'x isn't trying to hide from us."

The blue-haired Nobody stood at the far side of the wide open, featureless room, in front of a massive window with a perfect view of Kingdom Hearts that covered the entire wall. He turned to glare at the heroes, and at Sora in particular. "Only you could have made it this far, Roxas."

Sora matched the glare. "That's really getting old! Do all of you Nobodies really only see Roxas when you look at me?"

Suddenly, Sora was swamped with memories that weren't his. _I remember this place...we called it the Gray Area; a lounge where everyone in the Organization received their missions each day. And it was where I met Xio-_

"Yeah! He's Sora!" Sai'x looked like he was about to take advantage of Sora's momentary distraction, but Donald and Goofy intercepted Sai'x's weapon, a massive claymore. How had they missed that he was holding it?

The sword's edge was too thick to cut anything - but with such a large, heavy object, Sai'x could simply smash someone's skull with its sheer weight. It was almost as long as Sai'x was tall, yet he wielded it in a one-handed reverse grip, which should have left him too far off balance even with a normal-sized sword. But even with that awkward stance, it took Donald and Goofy's combined strength to hold Goofy's Knight's Defender shield in place against the claymore, _Lunatic._ Clearly, the Organization's taskmaster had earned his station, and had more than enough strength to master his massive weapon.

Luckily, Sai'x responded to having his attacks blocked like every other Nobody did - by staggering backwards and losing all his focus. Sora cleared his own mind and jumped over Goofy's head to attack. "You're going down, you big jerk!"

Sai'x shrugged off Sora's combo and readied his claymore again, having sustained no noticeable damage. "Different name, same fate. I'm disappointed, _Roxas_. 'Big jerk?' Is that really all the hatred I've earned from you? You won't beat me, not with that puny will behind your blows." With one mighty swing, Sai'x sent out a gust of wind that pushed all the heroes backward. Wind wasn't his element; the attack was just _that_ strong.

Sora, Donald, and Goofy landed in a pile, with Goofy on top as usual.

Kairi lost her footing and began to fly backwards, but Lambda caught her...and then Lambda lost her own footing. Reacting quickly, Riku sent the shadow Guardian to catch the girls while he held his ground against the wind. Riku growled, "We won't be pushed out of this fight so easily!"

Kairi called out, "Don't worry about us, Sora! Give him everything you've got!"

Slightly muffled by Donald's feathers, Sora replied, "I've got just the thing! Guys, _give me strength!_ "

Sora engaged Master Form, the Drive Form that King Mickey unlocked for him, by absorbing Donald and Goofy simultaneously (which had the added bonus of getting them both off of Sora's face)...but something went wrong. Instead of a shattering burst of Light, a smoky puff of Darkness shrouded Sora from view.

Lambda reported, "Unknown Darkness-based anomaly detected within Sora."

Sai'x grinned. "Perfect. Xemnas and I were wondering when this would eventually happen. You'll be much easier to beat in Anti-Form."

A new, but familiar voice rang out from within the Darkness. _"Not today. I'll help out."_

Riku, Lambda, and Sai'x all recognized that voice, but surprisingly, Kairi was the first one who gasped, "Roxas?!"

A piercing Light shined out from within the Darkness, banishing the cloud and revealing Sora's impressive Final Form. Sora's clothes had gained an overall silver color scheme with white, fire-like decals. Two sparks of Light spun diagonally around him, apparently just to look cool. He didn't need the help much, though, since this Form let him float just above the ground at all times...and let his two Keyblades fly around entirely on their own. Fittingly, the two Keyblades hovering behind Sora's back were Oathkeeper and Oblivion. When Sora spoke, it was with two subtly different voices - his own, and Roxas'. "You wanted to fight Roxas, right? Well, here's your chance. I hope you're ready!"

Seeing the epic beatdown that was about to commence, Riku whispered, "On second thought, maybe the rest of us should just stay back and let him handle it."

Sai'x didn't seem intimidated. "As a matter of fact, I _am_ ready now. Can you feel it - the moon's power coursing through me? RrraaAAAH!" Sai'x floated into the air with his claymore floating behind him. Suddenly, an explosion of blue flames surrounded him, and the claymore extended large spikes from its tip.

Sai'x's expression twisted into one of blind, feral rage, and he unleashed a rapid flurry of strikes against Sora, yelling incoherently all the while. Each swing of his claymore released a line of blue fire, but Sora just floated there and let his Keyblades intercept all of the attacks. He made Sai'x's berserker state seem like pointless sound and fury; Sora didn't even have to lift a finger to keep Sai'x at bay.

To his credit, Sai'x didn't stagger from being blocked in his berserk state. He ended his combo by flinging his claymore into the ground in front of Sora and releasing three more lines of fire, then summoned a new claymore into his hand. Sora noted with surprise that the claymore that had been thrown was still stuck in the ground, though...

On a whim, Sora grabbed the handle of the discarded copy of Lunatic. After all, both his hands were free while his Keyblades flew around independently like this. As he raised the claymore, Sora felt a surge of rage flow into him. The emotion wasn't his own, but it was intense. He directed the rage squarely at Sai'x, who was breathing heavily to recover from the earlier rushdown before he could attack again. Sora interrupted Sai'x's rest to turn the Luna Diviner's weapon against him, flipping both of them into the air with the momentum of his massive uppercut.

A few more flips and spins kept the aerial combo going; it seemed the claymore just wanted, with whatever capacity for desire the weapon could have, to lash out at whatever enemy stood in front of it, but it didn't care who was on which end of the weapon. So Lunatic helped Sora swing it around. No wonder Sai'x had such an easy time wielding it. The blue-haired man was smashed into the right-hand wall of the room by the last blow of Sora's combo. Both spiky claymores disappeared, and the burning red energy that had been rolling off of Sai'x (and Sora) petered out.

Sora arched an eyebrow. "Seriously? The moon? C'mon, I felt what that was - it was rage, plain and simple. You're really dead-set on believing you can't feel anything, aren't you? I almost feel sorry for you... _almost._ " Roxas' Keyblades zoomed outward, dragging Sai'x back into a new combo of flying Keyblades and bursts of Light.

Sai'x took heavy damage and was knocked away again. When he looked back at Sora, his yellow eyes remained defiant...but just barely. "Who am I fighting against? Sora? Or Roxas?"

"Against both halves of Sora, of course." The Keyblades lashed out again, and Final Sora followed them into a lengthy aerial combo. "But Roxas came up with the wording just now. He has some pent-up aggression to work out, and it looks like we can't deal it to DiZ. So we'll have to make do with you." Final Sora dove down onto Sai'x from above, dealing the finishing blow.

Sai'x was left lying facedown on the floor. He barely managed to push himself to his knees, gazing straight at Kingdom Hearts with an expression of desperate longing. "Why...Kingdom Hearts...why do you still float just out of reach? If I could have gotten a heart of my own...just a little sooner..." And with that, he faded away.

 **VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

Sora turned back toward Riku, Kairi, and Lambda, still in Final Form. "And that's that."

Kairi seemed upset. "Sora, you've changed after all, haven't you? You're so...angry."

Namine's voice replied, _"No, he got like this near the end of all his other adventures. He'll be fine when things settle down. He's still the same Sora; he's just taking this seriously because he has to, against terrible people like these."_

Lambda gasped. "Wait, Roxas is at the surface of Sora's heart now! Namine, this is our chance!" Lambda rushed forward and grabbed Sora's shoulders, gazing deep into the boy's startled eyes. "Observation...established. 4 hearts confirmed in target body. Isolating and separating Observations of 'Xion' and 'Roxas' from combined entity 'Sora'...complete."

Namine's transparent image appeared beside Kairi in a flash of Light. She walked over to Sora and laid a ghostly hand over his heart. "I'm ready, Lambda. Xion...can you hear me? It's time. You can come back out now. And Roxas, this is your chance, too."

Sora had never felt more left-out-of-the-loop than he did at that moment. "Xion? Who's that? What's this...hurt? What the heck are you two doing to me?"

Another disembodied voice joined the conversation. _"But why? Why did you work so hard to save me, Lambda? I thought you hated me. I hated you. I only did what I had to, because my existence just hurt everyone. Why didn't you just forget me like everyone else?"_

Lambda smiled warmly at the Xion she saw in Sora's eyes. "Because someone had to remember, and I was that someone. More specifically, I had no direct connection to Sora at the time, so I was the only one who _could_ remember. Please, Xion, don't let all that frustration I went through, trying to convince everyone else that you were _real,_ go to waste. My reasons are selfish, but it means you can be with Roxas and Sora. Just in a more normal way."

Though hesitant at first, the voice replied with conviction. _"Okay...yes, I will! C'mon, Roxas! Last one out buys the ice cream!"_

A blinding wave of Light burst forth from Sora. Behind the blaze, Final Form was canceled, but that was just the smallest event.

Kairi clutched her chest as a sudden warmth welled up; the Light of her pure heart was overflowing from her, rushing out to meet the Light of Sora's heart and of those dwelling within him. It wove together in a pattern defined by Lambda's and Namine's memories. Within the blast of Light, Roxas stood beside Sora in his casual clothing - what he wore before taking the Organization's Black Coat, and after he left the coat behind. Then, another swirl wove between Lambda and Roxas, forming a girl who was physically Roxas' age, with jet-black hair and deep blue eyes. She wore the Organization's uniform; the only clothes she'd ever worn.

The blazing Light faded, and all the people involved slumped to the floor. Roxas and Xion were reborn into the world.

Namine huffed and puffed, then vanished back into Kairi. _"I still can't believe that worked - and so easily! It always sounded crazy when you talked about saving Xion like it_ had _to be possible, when everything I thought I knew said it couldn't be."_

"The things you can do with Observation never cease to amaze me, Lambda," Riku proudly added.

"I've done...a lot more than I should be able to," Lambda panted. "No Observer can recreate beings that have ceased to exist. The Azure would make it possible, but that's not what happened. Something fundamental has definitely changed about me since I came to the Heart Timeline. But these two aren't stable yet; they're like Sora was after Kairi saved him from being a Heartless. Riku, can I borrow some Darkness from you to balance them out?"

Riku walked over and pulled Lambda to her feet. "Of course you can, dear! How could I refuse, when the transfer involves kissing you?"

"Oh, that? That part of the process was never actually necessary. But if you insist..." Lambda gave Riku a deep, heartfelt kiss on the lips, and simultaneously siphoned a massive surge of Darkness from him. The emblem from his old Dark Mode suit appeared on Lambda's chest - like the Heartless Emblem, but without the thorny X.

Lambda broke the kiss and turned toward the new people still sitting on the floor. She knelt down and grasped their hands, sending the Darkness to them to reinforce their existences with the power and drive to survive and find their own happiness - aspects of the Darkness that everyone ought to keep. Roxas and Xion stopped panting, and their eyes focused more clearly. Lambda flopped down on her back. "That's it...I'm spent. Give me a few minutes before we need any more miracles."

Kairi watched in wonder. "I think I helped with this, but I'm not sure how I did it. Namine, could you be 'recreated' like that?"

 _"I probably could, but...no. I want to stay with you, Kairi, if you'll let me. Besides, Lambda must be pretty close to her limits int terms of how many subjects she can maintain, whatever those limits are now."_

Kairi replied immediately, "Of course you can stay with me, Namine."

Lambda confirmed, "She's right. I had to make Roxas the primary Observer for Xion instead of myself to manage this. So, Roxas, this is a big responsibility. You will always have to acknowledge that you and Xion both _definitely_ exist, or you'll both fade away."

Roxas finally spoke up. "That doesn't sound too hard, does it, Xion?"

Xion replied, "You can do it for sure. I know you can...because I'm a Replica of you."

Roxas shook his head. "No. If I'm going to do this, you've got to play along. I'm _me_ , and you're _you_. We're nobody else but ourselves now. But what does this mean for Sora?"

Sora laid a hand over his chest and thought for a moment. "I think...I'll be fine. After all, you're still with me...you're just over there instead of in here. We're still friends, no matter how far apart we are, right?"

Roxas nodded. "Right; that's always how it is. I got it memorized from Axel."

"Okay, that's enough sap!" Donald yanked the camera off to the side (wait, Donald can do that too?) and ruined the moment. "We still have to catch up to the King! C'mon, Goofy!" The Royal Magician stomp-waddled out through the portal.

Goofy scratched his head, just under his floppy ear. "Y'know, I think he's right. Everyone's fine now, right? And all's well that ends well!" Goofy loped through the portal.

Riku nodded firmly and pulled Lambda to her feet (again). "Right. But it hasn't ended until we deal with Xemnas. He's the only member left of Organization XIII...or at least the only one still trying to misuse Kingdom Hearts." Technically, three members of Organization XIII (counting Axel) hadn't been dealt with by the heroes, but defected from the group instead.

"And don't forget all the lesser Nobodies," Lambda reminded him. "Xemnas is in direct command of _all_ of them now." Riku and Lambda set off through the portal hand in hand, like always.

"I wonder if I can still command my Samurais?" Roxas wondered as he headed toward the portal.

"I wouldn't count on it, since Xemnas' element is Nothing, but that won't be a problem once we beat him," Xion assured Roxas as she followed him. "I'm just glad everyone can see me the same way now! I used to look different to everyone; you were the only one who saw me like this, Roxas. It must be permanent now because we were recreated together." Without really thinking about it, she threaded her hand into his.

Roxas reinforced her grip; he didn't want Xion to get sad enough to go away like she had before. Never again. "Don't worry, we'll stay together from now on. You still owe me ice cream for being the last one out, after all!" The pair laughed all the way through the portal.

"Forget the Samurais, do they still have their Keyblades?" Sora wondered, still standing in place. In the vague memories that weren't his, he recalled Xion having trouble manifesting her Keyblade, and then Roxas suddenly dual-wielding Kingdom Keys and switching them into Oathkeeper and Oblivion. Roxas was probably the first person to _ever_ wield two Keyblades simultaneously like that; it would be a shame if he lost that ability.

"Don't worry, Sora; I feel like they'll be fine. They make such a cute couple, too!" Kairi grabbed Sora by the hand and led him through the portal.

 **VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

 _Proof of Existence..._

All of the Organization's weapon marks were now red, except Roxas' Keyblades in the corner. "Finally, that barrier is out of the way! C'mon, guys, hurry up!" Donald ran off ahead again, somehow dragging Goofy behind him by the arm.

"Okay, okay, keep your zipper-covered hat on," Riku grumbled. Everyone hurried to catch up with the Disney Castle crew.

As they ran Kairi asked, "So... Who else snuck in more 'sap' after Donald left?" 

Roxas and Xion raised their free hands (they were still holding hands) as Roxas replied, "I guess we did."

Lambda reported, "Affirmative."

Sora summed it up, "All of us, then."

Riku smirked. "It'd take more than Donald to stop it."

Lambda added, before she forgot, "Xion, it's great to finally meet you face to face."

"I feel the same way, Lambda. And thank you for everything."

 **VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

 _Naught's Approach..._

The party's mirth was appropriately tucked away for later as they reached Ansem the Wise's stakeout point on _Naught's Approach:_ another outdoor walkway, this time with Darkness flowing across the metal floors from the doorway up ahead like runoff from a rainstorm. Riku had never seen Ansem's real face, but Sora recognized him from an image file on what was now Tron's computer terminal in Radiant Garden. He was hunched over a complex-looking gadget: the source of the green beam toward Kingdom Hearts that they'd seen earlier. However, Sora was no expert, but the device didn't look very stable. Ansem was using all his strength to keep it in place as it jostled and shook.

No one had a chance to say any greetings before a Dark Corridor opened nearby. "I was wondering who would dare interfere with my Kingdom Hearts..." Xemnas' oily, condescending voice followed him out of the Corridor. "And look; here you all are." The glares of ten heroes met his approach, but Xemnas focused on Ansem. "Ansem the Wise...you look pathetic."

Ansem harrumphed and turned back to his task. "Have your laugh. I deserve it for failing to see you for the fool you are."

"Students do take after their teachers. After all, none of this would have happened without you. You are the source of all Heartless! It was your research that inspired me to go further than you ever dared."

"That sounds like an excuse to me," Lambda muttered, but she was ignored.

Ansem slowly showed more anger. "I admit, my disregard brought chaos to more worlds than one. But what were _you_ seeking?! You erased me from the world, only to take my name and continue research better left forgotten...is this the answer you've been looking for?"

"All that and more. I'm continuing research you yourself began, and I'm building a whole new world, one heart at a time. I thought you'd praise me, but all you ever do is hold me back."

Xion wondered, "Is that what this is really about? No, it can't be. If the Heartless invasion never happened, the Xemnas I know would have found some other way to end up here." She was ignored; nothing could break through the walls locking Xehanort and Ansem in this battle of wits and wills.

Nothing but the Kingdom Hearts Encoder, which continued to go out of control. Ansem's face and voice showed no stress except his contempt for Xehanort, but his shoulders shook with the effort of holding down the Encoder. It wouldn't be much longer now, but Ansem had a few last things to say. "Xehanort; foolish apprentice of a foolish man. You have surpassed nothing; only proven how little we both know. We may profess to know the heart, but its essence is beyond our reach. We're both ignorant...as oblivious as when we began. I'm afraid that any world _you_ try to create - any Kingdom of _yours_...would only be an empire of ignorance! That is why you and your creation are destined to fall!"

The Encoder began to spray sparks. The globes on its stand spun faster and faster. Mickey cried out, "Ansem, the machine!"

Ansem chanced looking at Mickey to better convey the urgency of his last orders. "Run, my friend! It's going to self destruct, and anything could happen! Riku, you know what to do! And Roxas, I know you won't forgive me, but...I am sorry." Light began to streak out of the device. "We've said enough! Farewell!"

A shining force began to expand around the Encoder. Ansem grimly faced his fate. Mickey tried to dash forward, but Riku caught him, shielding the rest of the party from the ensuing blast with his back. Sora and the rest looked on helplessly. As for Xemnas, he tried to hide a spark of true fear in his eyes by leaving through a Dark Corridor. And the Encoder exploded.

 **VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

 _Ansem the Wise's fail-safe..._

A wave of Light washed over everyone present, temporarily blinding them all. Too bad for them; the explosion itself was quite a sight to see. A column of swirling light blasted into the sky like a mushroom cloud. Explosions trailed up the green beam as it faded away; when the explosions reached Kingdom Hearts, they blasted a huge chunk right out of the middle of the faux moon. Hearts rained down from the hole, drifting into the Dark City like snow. In the streets, lesser Nobodies tried and failed to catch the hearts; wherever the hearts landed, puddles of Darkness formed, releasing Shadows by the hundreds. (The fact that the only Heartless created were Purebloods meant the falling hearts were still free, thankfully).

 **VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

 _Back at Naught's Skyway..._

When everyone could see again, Ansem, Xemnas, and the Encoder were nowhere to be found. There was a more interesting sight to see, though: Riku. The blast had blown all the Darkness away from Riku's body and heart. Ansem (the Seeker of Darkness) no longer lurked within him, and he no longer needed the villain's body. Sora and Lambda summed up everyone's reactions the same way: "Whoa...!"

Interestingly, Riku's body seemed to have grown while it had been replaced with Ansem's; Lambda was pretty sure his hair wasn't quite that long before. A haircut was definitely in order. Also, _Dear Light, look at those muscles!_ Riku had been pushing himself beyond human limits for quite some time, of course. Getting into (even better) shape was to be expected. He was taller than he had been, but still a bit shorter than Ansem.

He had also reacquired his blindfold somehow. Lambda had almost forgotten that Riku used to wear a blindfold to hold the Darkness back. He'd come such a long way since then.

Sora jumped for joy. "Riku, you're you again! But...are you gonna take that off?"

"Take what off? ...Oh." He legitimately hadn't noticed he was wearing a blindfold. Well, if that wasn't proof that he didn't need it anymore, then what would be? With a bit of trepidation, he undid the knot under his hair and let the blindfold fall, then opened his eyes.

Lambda jumped for joy. "Your real eyes are back! I really have missed that color!"

Riku chuckled at her antics; after all they'd been through, was his eye color really such a big deal? "Thanks for sticking with me all the way, Lambda."

Sora frowned at them. Now that Riku was really back, it was time to clear up some things. "You two...why did you try to do so much on your own? You've got friends - like us!" Sora indicated himself and the five other Keyblade-wielding heroes behind him. Well, three Keyblade wielders and Donald and Goofy.

Lambda crossed her arms in exasperation. "Well, it wasn't my idea."

Riku smirked. "I'll tell you why. It's because I'm not a total sap like you."

Sora frowned petulantly, but Lambda came up behind Riku and flicked his nose. "Don't lie, dear. You've been a bigger sap than Sora the whole time we were together!"

Riku clutched his poor abused nose, but had to concede the point. "Good point, dear. We _did_ go to all that trouble to help him catch up with us in terms of sappiness."

"Point: Lambda."

Riku groaned good-naturedly. "Well, no point hiding, then. We're coming for you, Xemnas!" He ripped off his Black Coat and flung it away behind him. On top of proving Riku's total badassery, this action revealed another outfit he was wearing underneath.

Lambda was particularly impressed, since she knew they'd never bought any new clothes for either of them. Yet somehow, Riku was dressed in a white and yellow vest over a black, sleeveless shirt with a zipper, along with blue jeans and white-and-yellow sneakers (which were sized for a normal human, unlike Sora's enormous shoes). "Where did that outfit come from?"

Riku suddenly realized that for the first time ever, even he didn't know how he did that. "Uh...No clue. Just roll with it."

"Acknowledged." This was far from the weirdest thing they'd seen today. It was quite convenient, too! "You might want to check if your powers were affected, though."

"Good idea." Riku concentrated and formed a blob of Darkness over his hand. "Yeah, it looks like I've lost a lot of Darkness. Luckily, Xehanort's Heartless went with it, but I don't think I can create his Guardian anymore. Or abuse that flash-step move I've relied on for a while. But I still have a little bit of power, and now I have the Keyblade!" He summoned Way to Dawn, just to prove he could.

"I wish I had one of these," Lambda thought aloud. Then she caught herself with her hand gripping the hilt over Riku's. "Oh, I'm so sorry!" She jerked her hand back, wondering at the strange tingling sensation left in her palm.

Riku rolled his eyes. For a sentient machine, Lambda could be so random sometimes. "If I could give you one, I would. You don't need to make it sound so...scandalous, though."

Kairi spoke up. "You two are just hopeless. Don't you have bad guys to beat?"

Riku groaned in mild disappointment. "Yeah. Yeah, we do. Xemnas is the Organization's last survivor. He probably won't be happy about the huge crater Ansem left in Kingdom Hearts. But even if he can't finish his plan, we can't leave him alone. Take it from me; Xehanort doesn't take 'no' for an answer. So we'd better get him out of the way." Riku forged onward into the next room.

 **VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

 _A/N: Yep, almost a month between updates again. Thank you all for your patience and encouragement!_

 _So, what did you think of the return of Roxas and Xion? There's actually at least one other important thing that happened here; the event and its significance will be revealed in the next chapter._

 _Feel free to review and/or PM me with your guesses...or just to gush about_ Breath of the Wild _for a while. It's such a good game! If you have it, I'll take it as a compliment that you're reading this instead of adventuring in the wilderness of Hyrule right now._


	29. Their Hearts are Decided

**Silver Linings**

 **Chapter 29: "Their Hearts are Decided."**

 _A/N: It's finally time! Time for A Fight to the Death! This chapter ended up being so long and epic that I split it in two. Chapter 30 will be uploaded shortly after this one...I hope._

 **VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

 _Ruin and Creation's Passage..._

The rest of the group nearly ran into Riku when he suddenly stopped, having noticed the main feature of this new room.

Donald asked the question that was on everyone's minds: "Wak! Where's the floor?!"

The room was an enormous, empty cavity, similar to Twilight's View from earlier. Fittingly, most of the massive size of the Castle That Never Was turned out to be just empty, hollow space. This room was more hollow than usual; several white platforms floated in midair, but there was no apparent way to reach any of them without flying. There were no ramps, no stairs, and no platforms within jumping reach. Riku had lost his ability to fly, as well.

Luckily, Roxas and Xion used to work here. Roxas had never had any reason to go this high in the Castle, but Xion had done some exploring, so she explained the trick. "Don't worry. The floor builds itself as you walk on it. Just head for the blue line on the next platform." Xion demonstrated by taking a confident step out onto thin air, allowing her foot to be stopped by a glowing force field floor that blinked into existence right before her foot made contact with it. "See? No problem."

Xion led the way up the invisible ramp, building the whole thing so no one in their large group would risk falling off the sides. At the top of the ramp, though, she was accosted by a group of Assassin Nobodies. Everyone summoned their weapons, except Xion and Lambda.

Xion reached out a hand, but nothing appeared in it. "The Keyblade...it won't come anymore. Now what?"

Roxas stepped in front of her and summoned both of his Keyblades. "Then I'll protect you until you find it again!"

Xion gratefully stepped back. "Thanks...Thank you so much..."

Meanwhile, Lambda tried to enter Battle Mode, even knowing her Ars Magus would be pointless. Maybe she could still use her Overdrive, but... "Summoning Lux Sanctus... Error 404: Nox Nyctores not found. What?! Not found?! It's not that I can't summon it, it's actually _gone?_ "

Riku ran in front of Lambda, brandishing Way to Dawn. "We'll find you a new weapon later! For now, let the rest of us handle this!"

Kairi cut in front of Sora and whacked away an Assassin that tried to leap out of the ground at him, then dispersed it with one more hit. "Well, I'm not staying behind! C'mon, Sora!"

Sora, Donald, Goofy, and Mickey did what they always did, making short work of the remaining Assassins. The party moved up more invisible ramps, slaying groups of Sorcerers, Creepers, and a slightly tougher squad of Berserkers on the way up.

Lambda grit her teeth; she felt so useless. "I've got to figure out what happened. Running checksum... IDEA Engine on standby, pending weapon link...unable to utilize in current format... Power of Darkness intensity at 2 percent... Located the Power of Light; intensity 98 percent, but I'm going to need training to figure out how to use that... Proximity alert? Oh, no..."

Kairi had already noticed the problem. "Guys, look out behind us!"

The Heartless that had formed when Kingdom Hearts exploded were climbing up the ramp to reach the heroes. ALL of the Heartless. Riku's response was somewhere between horror and annoyance. "There'll be no end to this!" Sure, the heroes of the Keyblade could definitely kill a bunch of Shadows, no matter howmany millions of Heartless there were. But that would take way too long, and who knew what Xemnas would do with this opportunity?

Luckily, the problem was taken out of their hands. _"Go on ahead! Leave these creatures to us!"_ Maleficent appeared in a burst of green fire, followed by her loyal lackey, Pete.

"Maleficent?" Sora looked from the Heartless to Maleficent, wondering if he should just take the fairy's words at evil-green-face value. "Why are you helping us?"

Maleficent replied dismissively, "Do not misunderstand me. Remember, when I've destroyed them all, this castle will be MINE!"

Pete was less confident about this. "Are you crazy, sister? There's no way we can take 'em all!"

Maleficent merely grinned. "You underestimate me. Leave if you wish, but do not expect to come crawling back to me afterward again!"

Pete weighed his options, and noticed King Mickey among the heroes. Remembering an attempted heist from earlier in this adventure, Pete felt a bit of nostalgia. "Well, if it ain't the boat-boy King!"

Mickey smiled back (as usual). "Time to weigh anchor, Cap'n Pete!"

Pete scoffed. "What, like 'abandon ship?' No way! Wait for me, Maleficent!" He stomped down the ramp toward the unrelenting Heartless horde.

Sora gazed after them, torn between turning back to help or moving on to fight Xemnas. Wait, did he just consider helping _Maleficent?_ Everything about this was nuts!

Riku grasped Sora's shoulder. "I can't say I get why they're doing this, but their hearts are decided. Maybe she wants us to feel bad for beating Xemnas for _her_ sake."

"At least she'll be too busy wiping out Heartless to interfere," Lambda pointed out. "C'mon, the top of the Castle is just through this door!" Lambda turned toward the door, but hesitated and let Sora and Riku lead the group; she couldn't do much without a weapon, anyway.

 **VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

 _The Altar of Naught..._

A short spiral staircase led the heroes to the apex of the Castle That Never Was. Contrary to the name that popped into Lambda's head, _The Altar of Naught_ had no altar; it was just an open-air viewing platform right below Kingdom Hearts. Xemnas must have spend all his days gazing at his prize, which was now a bombed-out husk hanging just out of reach.

Speaking of Xemnas, he had his back turned to the group. "Oh, my Kingdom Hearts...ruined. Now I'll have to start all over again. Ah, but know this, Kingdom Hearts: I will give to you as many hearts as it takes." Xemnas swept around to face the heroes. "Chosen warriors of the Keyblade! Go forth, and bring me more hearts!"

"NO!" Sora, Riku, Mickey, Kairi, and Roxas simultaneously summoned their Keyblades and yelled their refusal.

Xemnas merely raised an eyebrow at the threat. "No? Then let me ask you this: why do you hate the Darkness?"

Mickey thought for a moment. "We don't hate it. It's just kind of...scary."

"It's not the Darkness we fight; it's what's lurking inside it!" Riku pointed his Keyblade at Xemnas, who was a prime example.

Xemnas replied, "So you accept Darkness, yet choose to live in the Light. Then why do you loathe those of us who teeter on the edge of Nothing - we who were turned away by both Light and Dark, never given a choice?"

Riku scoffed. "That's easy; it's because you mess up our worlds."

Xemnas allowed, "Perhaps...but what other choice might we have had?"

Lambda spoke up. "What other choice did you _try_ to find? Even without factoring emotion into it, this plan is obviously all wrong. Assuming you want what you say you want, anyway."

Xion added, "You manipulated innocent children and your colleagues. You sacrificed millions of people's hearts; and all to complete how many Nobodies? Thirteen? Seven? _One?_ No matter how much the Organization wanted to be whole, nothing could be worth all those evil deeds."

Riku continued, "And now all that work was undone in less than an hour, and not even by Sora, but one man you wronged and forgot years ago. Sounds to me like you were destined to fail."

Sora added, "Well, you were right about one thing, Xemnas; you obviously won't care about anything we say. So let's just get this over with."

Xemnas raised his arms over his head. "Indeeeed. I cannot feel sorrow, no matter what you think...what you feel...or how you exist."

A surge of strange energy rose up from the floor, blocking everyone's view. When it faded, Sora and Xemnas were nowhere to be found, and Lambda had passed out on the floor. As Riku watched, Lambda's cape with the No. 11 tags and the sword holding her braid together vanished into sparks of Light, and her hair unwound itself around her shoulders. She seemed to be sleeping comfortably. Not knowing what else to do, Riku knelt down and propped Lambda up on his lap to wait for Sora's return.

 **VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

 _Dive to the Heart..._

Lambda found herself falling headfirst through an endless, murky abyss. Far below, a glowing green platform could be seen. She flipped around to land on her bare feet, noting that gravity seemed to shift as she approached the platform to let her land softly.

Looking around, Lambda took in the image on the platform. She recognized a sleeping image of herself in her bodysuit, although her braid was undone in the picture...and her hair hung loose on her own head, come to think of it. When did that happen? In the picture, she held a Keyblade loosely in her right hand; most of the details were obscured by her leg, but she could make out the distinctive shape of a Keyblade's handguard and part of a Keychain, so she felt confident of what it was.

Lambda's image took up most of the right side of the image and curled around the bottom of the circular platform. The upper-left corner had four small circles stuck together, each with an image of someone Lambda knew. Clockwise from the top, they were Riku, King Mickey, DiZ (with his face still hidden under bandages, since that's how Lambda had known him), and Professor Kokonoe. Along the bottom of the image, there was a low-detail scene of a young couple leaning against each other on a bench, looking at a sunset.

Lambda immediately recognized this _Station of Awakening_ as a part of herself, like watching her own arm move. "So this is my heart?"

 **Your path is not set. Your future is not written.**

"Who's there?"

 **Power sleeps within you.**

"Not listening? Okay...whoa!" Three stone pedestals rose up from the stained-glass image. A sharp sword with Mickey's royal crest in a red circle on the gold hilt appeared over the pedestal in front of Lambda.

 **If you give it form...**

A shimmering rod topped with three round, blue gems (also arranged like Mickey's head) appeared to Lambda's right.

 **It will give you strength.**

A red shield emblazoned with Mickey's likeness appeared on the last pedestal.

 **Choose well.**

Lambda considered carefully. This was obviously not just a dream, which meant this choice was more than just picking a weapon. "Hmm... Now that I have the choice, I'd rather not be a sword anymore. I wasn't exactly doing a stellar job at that anyway. But I'm intrigued by magic..." Lambda hopped up onto the pedestal on her right and grabbed the staff.

 **The Power of the Mystic. Inner strength. A staff of wonder and ruin. You choose this power?**

Lambda tightened her grip. "Yes. This one sounds perfect for me." The rod vanished, but Lambda could still feel its presence.

 **Your form is set, but your path is not. Now, what will you give up in exchange?**

Lambda had already decided. She jumped onto the pedestal with the sword, and gripped it for the barest instant before tossing it over her shoulder.

 **The Power of the Warrior. Invincible courage. A sword of terrible destruction. You give up this power?**

"Yes. I do. Affirmative. Next?"

The sword vanished from the ground behind Lambda.

 **You've chosen the Power of the Mystic. You've given up the Power of the Warrior. The Power of the Guardian will remain here. Is this the form you choose?**

Lambda nodded emphatically. "Yes, already! Whoever set this process up must've dealt with a lot of people with short attention spans."

Apparently to spite her, or perhaps just as the next step in the process, the stained-glass platform began to crumble from the edges inward, until Lambda's feet dropped into the void.

Lambda had a sense of regaining consciousness, except she was still in the same dream. She was back on a stained-glass pillar with the same design, but the background was yellow instead of green.

 **You've gained the strength to fight, and there will be times when you'll have to use it. Keep your Light burning strong.**

A group of Shadows appeared and surrounded Lambda, and the rod from before appeared in her right hand. She gripped it in both hands and swung it at a Shadow. She did some damage, but it took a few more swings to destroy each Shadow, and she could tell she had no skill with this weapon.

She supposed it was to be expected; she'd never held a weapon in her actual hands before, having relied on Murakumo's flying blades until now. She resolved to learn how to actually fight as soon as possible. Luckily, the strength of her conviction seemed to empower her staff in this dream, and she was able to defeat the rest of the Shadows more easily.

 **Behind you!**

A Shadow appeared behind Lambda, but when she swiped at it, the Heartless sank into the ground and spread across it as a pool of Darkness. Lambda's hover Ars no longer worked without Murakumo, so her feet got stuck in the mire. She was inexorably pulled down into the depths...

...And then she woke up on another personalized platform - a blue one, this time. There was nothing else there but a set of double doors that stood up on its own, apparently leading nowhere.

 **The Door is still shut. If you think you're ready, open it and see what awaits you.**

"Sounds good. Or maybe you're just being overly vague. I'll deal with whatever I find, good or bad." Lambda grabbed the handles of the doors and pulled them open, releasing a blinding wave of Light. Shielding her eyes, Lambda walked through the door...

...And woke up in DiZ's computer room in the mansion in Twilight Town. Three people were crowded into the room with her, blocking all the exits. Namine stood in front of the stairs up, Xion waited in the doorway to the pods, and DiZ stood on the platform of the Transfer Device. The computer terminal was smashed.

 **Hold on; the Door won't open just yet. First, tell me about yourself.**

Lambda approached the person most likely to know what was going on. "Namine, is this your doing?"

Without preamble, Namine calmly asked, "What scares you more than anything else?"

"...What." Okay, this was clearly not actually Namine. An aspect of these tests, perhaps? "Well...loss of identity. The idea that I could be forced to be someone else terrifies me, right down to my core programming...or my heart, really."

"Losing yourself...is that really the scariest thing there is?" 

"What could possibly be worse?" Lambda asked incredulously. "Never mind, I'd rather not find out."

"..."

Lambda stared for a while, but Namine said nothing more. Lambda shuddered and turned away. "This is creepy. How about you, DiZ? Er, Ansem? ...I'm just going to keep calling you DiZ."

"What do you want most out of life?"

Another big, vague question. Luckily, Lambda had done some things today (it was still the same day...right?) that helped her find an answer. "To make a difference only I can make."

"Is making a difference really such a big deal?" That didn't even sound like how DiZ would talk at all.

Lambda huffed, "Obviously. Isn't that self-evident? Making a difference makes a difference."

"..."

"I think I see a pattern here. Xion, do you have a question, too?"

"What do you care about most?"

"Isn't that a mashup of the other two questions? Well, earlier today I would have said Riku, but thinking about it now, that's partly because my relationship with him is such a big part of who I've decided to be. So I guess what I care about most is myself. Not exactly heroic, but it is what it is, and I am what I am, weird voices in my head nonwithstanding. I'll make sure of it."

"Are you really so important?"

"Let me rephrase: being myself is most important. I'm not really wired for narcissism; there are people out there who are just as important as me, and they're usually more important in the grand scheme of things. But I can only change the thoughts of myself."

"Is being yourself really so important?" 

"I could say it's the most important thing anyone can do. Especially with Xehanort and his Heartless and Nobody running around, trying to twist everyone to his will."

 **You're afraid of losing yourself. You want to make a difference. You want to be yourself. Is that right?**

"Oh, that voice is back. Yes, those are my final answers."

 **Your journey begins at midnight. The road ahead will be difficult, but a bright dawn awaits at your journey's end.**

Lambda smiled. "I know. I already started my journey in the darkest place there is. Are there any other tests, or can I wake up now?"

Lambda suddenly felt very sleepy. "Okay, I guess there's moaaah..." She trailed off into a yawn and fell asleep standing up.

She woke up on a red Station...meaning she hadn't woken up at all. "More nonsensical dream tests? Normally I'd be intrigued, but the last thing I remember is facing down Xemnas, so I'd really like to get back to reality sooner instead of later."

 **So much to do, so little time. Take your time. Don't be afraid.**

"I'm not afraid, I'm irritated...and worried. I have a bunch of friends and a loved one out there, and all of them could be in danger while I'm unconscious and unable to help! Well...they can defend themselves, and it's not like I could help with no weapon. I hope I can at least get a weapon from all this hassle."

A spotlight shone down on the center of the platform from somewhere overhead. Lambda stood up at the edge of the platform and gazed upward to try and find the source of the Light.

 **Step forward if you dare, but beware; the closer you get to Light, the greater your shadow becomes.**

Lambda just rolled her eyes and strode forward into the middle of the spotlight. "If my shadow were worth worrying about, I would've been able to stab Sai'x instead of tackling him. Tell my inner Darkness to bring it on whenever it's ready."

Sure enough, Lambda's shadow, cast by the spotlight, tried to rise off the ground and turn into a Heartless, but where Sora got a Darkside, and Riku had Ansem, Lambda just got a Mega-Shadow. It wasn't even a Gigas Shadow!

Lambda couldn't help but feel disappointed, somehow. There was supposed to be an actual challenge here, she was sure. The Darkness was a dangerous, but useful power. Riku struggled so much with his Darkness that Lambda had just locked hers away behind Restriction 13, not even noticing as it withered. She had high hopes for her surplus of Light, though. She'd just have to get stronger.

The Dream Rod appeared in her hands again, and she bopped the Mega-Shadow over the head until it popped, causing no particular fanfare. "Is that all-"

The puff of Darkness released by the Mega-Shadow cleared away to reveal Nu-13, the pale Prime Field Device that still resembled Lambda a bit too much. Nu was in full Battle Mode with her comparatively upgraded copy of Murakumo, and she was already opening several wormholes for Sword Summoner. "Target acquired. Terminating."

Lambda gulped. "Maybe I should have just kept my mouth shut for once."

Suddenly, Lambda found herself pinned to the ground on top of an inescapably powerful Gravity Seed, with dozens of swords planted in the glass all around her. None of them hit her, but all were within an inch from her flesh. Nu-13 hovered over the outdated Unit, her face utterly impassive, her Petals arranged to pierce Lambda's heart from multiple directions simultaneously, just a killing machine doing what it was designed to do...

A voice entered Lambda's head again, but this time it was her own: the control protocol's predetermined responses. _I am... Lambda is an inferior unit of the Murakumo line. Self destruct? Y/N?_

 _N. No. No!_ "NOOO!"

 **Don't be afraid.**

Petals pierced Lambda's chest. Pain! So much pain!

 **You hold the mightiest weapon of all. And don't forget...**

Bleeding out. Vision getting blurry. She couldn't do anything. Nu had won... Lambda's protocols had won...

 **You are the key that will create the future.**

Everything faded to black.

 **VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

 _Memory's Skyscraper(?)..._

When Sora opened his eyes, he and Xemnas were alone in the city below the Castle, right in front of Memory's Skyscraper. However, this clearly wasn't the real world (or whatever passed for real in the World That Never Was), since the area was reduced to a single platform around the Skyscraper, and after the edge dropped away there was nothing but a psychedelic, warped illusion of a cityscape surrounding the arena.

Sora returned his attention to Xemnas, who seemed ready to fight, but hadn't summoned a weapon. Sparks of energy (probably that Nothing stuff Xigbar mentioned) surrounded the Superior's gloves, but their use wasn't immediately apparent. Sora summoned the Kingdom Key and took a cautious battle stance.

Xemnas casually strolled toward Sora, who recognized this tactic from the other Organization members. Rather than tell the Nobody to take him seriously, Sora let Xemnas fall into the same trap as his "friends". Sora knew just how close to let Xemnas get before putting up his guard to feel out this new enemy's attacks.

Sure enough, Xemnas attacked right when Sora thought he would, extending red lasers from his hands and beginning a long series of sweeping attacks. Sora blocked each one; this fighting style felt familiar...

Wait, he remembered! "I've fought you before! You were that guy who attacked me out of the blue in Hollow Bastion...but when was it?"

Xemnas smiled, but the expression didn't reach his eyes. "I'm impressed...not only do you partially recall that event, your body remembers how to react to my attacks."

"Is that when you started messing with my memories?" Sora asked. "Well, I won't let you do it again!"

"Try to stop me, then...perhaps the outcome last time was a mistake." Xemnas finally stopped attacking; Sora had managed to block every swing of his Ethereal Blades.

Sora tried to counter, but Xemnas cloaked himself in a huge ball of Nothing and zipped away to another part of the arena. Sora used a Quick Run to follow and blocked another pair of attacks, but this time the Keyblade wielder forced his way through Xemnas' assault with a combo of his own. Xemnas took several hits before slipping away again.

"You're tougher than the rest of the Organization, I'll give you that," Sora acknowledged. "The rest of them couldn't handle being blocked at all."

"Indeeeed. You haven't even seen a fraction of my true power. For example...Guard!" The next time Sora attacked, Xemnas conjured a wall of energy that repelled his Keyblade. Xemnas immediately dissolved the wall and tried to turn the tables, only to find that Sora wasn't fazed at all.

Sora punched through Xemnas' attacks and laid another beating on him. After knocking Xemnas away, Sora followed up with a pair of Blizzaga spells for extra damage. "I'm no slouch, either! I'm going to take you down and get back to my friends! Then we can all go home together!"

"Such trifling ambitions...how did a simpleton such as yourself defeat my Organization? It makes no logical sense." Xemnas spun into an even longer combo, circling around Sora to search for gaps in the Keyblade wielder's defense.

He didn't find any; Sora had grown stronger and more skilled throughout all his journeys. The first time they'd fought, an assault like this would have forced Sora to frantically Dodge Roll to try and gain some breathing room, but now the Keyblade wielder stopped each attack on an impenetrable defense, then knocked Xemnas' blades aside to make his own breathing room.

"I beat them the same way I'm going to beat you; with the power of my friends!" Sora engaged Limit Form, blasting Xemnas away, and immediately launched into a series of Sonic Blade lunges.

Xemnas slipped away after the third of six lunges, and created a strange field around Sora. It didn't restrict his movements, but it delivered a painful shock to his entire body about twice every second. Xemnas cloaked himself in a sphere of Nothing again and gloated from out of reach. "Such bravado; even all alone, you continue to chatter about your friends. But even with their power, you can eventually be made to _kneel._ " Sora grit his teeth as Xemnas zipped over to the Skyscraper and launched himself to the roof, content to sit and watch Sora slowly break down. "Stay down below me where you belong, insolent boy."

Sora dashed to the base of the Skyscraper himself, and focused on charging power in his Keyblade through the constant pain. "Haven't you...heard? A Keyblade wielder can go anywhere he wants!" With a quick flex of the power he'd built up, the field around Sora shattered.

The Keyblade hero then jumped up the side of Memory's Skyscraper and began running up the vertical wall in flagrant defiance of gravity. The so-called laws of physics could be bent and broken much more easily than Sora, especially in a weird pocket dimension like this one.

Xemnas leapt off the roof to meet Sora halfway up the wall. Time slowed for both of them as they neared a decisive clash. The first to strike would be the victor...

And of course, Sora was the first to strike. Roxas and his Samurai had been excellent practice for this moment. Sora's Keyblade slipped under Xemnas' guard and smashed him in the chest, staggering the so-called Superior too badly to counterattack. Sora kept flying upward for a moment, but then kicked off the wall to come rocketing back down to Xemnas, which put him back in range to hack the Nobody to shreds and smash him into the wall. He then caught the hapless Nobody Master on the teeth of the Kingdom Key and dragged Xemnas all the way down the wall to the ground.

"So...that time wasn't a mistake..." Xemnas dissolved into wisps of Nothing, just like the rest of the Organization, but Sora was still trapped in this pocket dimension.

While looking around for a way out, Sora heard Kairi's voice. _"Sora! Where are you?!"_

 **VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

 _The Altar of Naught..._

"NOOO!" Lambda jerked into a sitting position, suddenly fully awake, but not yet alert.

Riku was already by her side; he'd been guarding her since Sora and Xemnas disappeared and Lambda collapsed. "Lambda, you're okay! What happened?"

Slowly, Lambda came back from utter, screaming terror to a more rational state of mind. "I...I don't know. That bizarre place...was it a dream? I can't be sure; I haven't had any dreams that were just dreams before, so I doubt it. The last part was really scary, though..."

Kairi thought to herself that this description sounded really familiar, but she couldn't put her finger on it, and she was more concerned with Sora's whereabouts at the moment. "Sora! Sora, where are you?"

Sora wavered into existence about a foot off the ground nearby; he fell on his face, but immediately pushed himself to his feet.

Kairi was elated. Her call brought him back, just like when he was a Heartless! "Sora, you're okay!"

"Yeah." Sora was indeed okay, but... "That was too easy. Where's Xemnas?"

Lambda did a scan. "Scanning... Target located." She pointed up at Kingdom Hearts. Xemnas floated right next to its surface, staring into the yawning hole in the center.

"What in the worlds is he doing up there?" Mickey asked.

"Knowing him, he's about to tell us," Roxas muttered.

"Kingdom Hearts...oh, what terrible damage you've suffered. But know this: I will offer you more hearts, again and again, until we both are whole at last. Hear me, Kingdom Hearts! You can no more be complete without me, than I without you! Lend me your power, so that we may be complete - the power to erase the fools that hinder us!"

"Can he _do_ that while Kingdom Hearts is in this condition?!" Xion sputtered. She seemed to have some instinctive idea of what Xemnas was trying to do.

"Hearts burning with rage..."

Sora yelled, "Don't do it, Xemnas!" Who knew what Kingdom Hearts would do to him in its erratic, incomplete state? Whatever was about to happen, it would probably be bad for everyone.

"Hearts quivering with hatred...!"

"Just stop already!" Mickey begged. Hadn't Xemnas hurt enough people already? Millions of hearts had already been stolen from innocent people, or were brought into being as doomed half-existences, all for this pointless farce!

"Hearts scarred by envy!"

"You'll never win!" Donald pointed out. After all, Ansem the Heartless had a complete Kingdom Hearts to work with, and did it help him at all? Exactly.

"That foolish Ansem claimed the heart's true nature was beyond his understanding, but it's not beyond mine! _Hearts are the source of all power!_ "

"Then by your own propaganda, you're the most powerless person here, and you've made enemies of the most powerful people in the worlds." Lambda replied, though she spoke too softly for Xemnas to hear her from up there on his ego trip. The heroes around Lambda heard her, though, and they took heart (and thus power) from her assertion.

Surprisingly, Kingdom Hearts did respond to Xemnas' call; pink motes of power flowed into him, and suddenly there was a blinding flash of Light. When everyone could see again, Xemnas seemed to have vanished.

Sora searched left and right. "Where'd he go?!"

"Scanning...he hasn't moved. He fused with Kingdom Hearts! I don't want to wait around and figure out what he could do to the worlds like that, but how can we fight him now?"

Sora pressed a hand over his heart; maybe it had the answer. "There has to be a way..."

Sure enough, a huge door appeared in midair, floating between the Altar of Naught and Kingdom Hearts. The design was somewhat different (there were Nobody sigils poking off the top of the frame, for one thing), but Sora recognized that it was the same kind of capital-D "Door" as Xehanort's Heartless had summoned from the other Kingdom Hearts. This wasn't Xemnas' doing, though... No, it was _everyone_ else's.

Mickey summed it up. "The worlds gave us this doorway. They want us to be the guardians of their destiny."

"Just one destiny for all those worlds?" Sora asked.

Mickey grinned. "Well, of course, Sora. You're the key that connects everything, after all!"

"Then it's up to me." Sora steeled himself for one last epic clash.

Kairi took his hand. "You won't have to fight alone."

Xion noted, "It's partly my fault Xemnas got this far; I've got to help out."

"We'll be right with ya, too!" Goofy added.

Donald yelled, "I'll beat him up myself if I have to!"

Riku chuckled. "Remember, Sora? Last time, we faced each other from different sides of that door. This time, let's go home side by side."

"I'll try not to just be dead weight," Lambda sighed.

 _"Here, use this."_ Namine spoke up. A flash of Light surrounded Lambda's hand, heralding the appearance of Namine's personal sketchbook. _"Merlin's new Panel Grid upgrades might finally come in handy."_

Lambda opened the sketchbook, found the Panel Grid, and clutched it gratefully. "Thank you, Namine."

 _"Tee hee...you're welcome."_

"Did Namine just giggle? That's new, but nice. We must be on the right track," Roxas noted.

"Hey, we're getting off-topic!" Jiminy yelled, bouncing up and down on Sora's shoulder. "Did y'all forget about Xemnas already?"

"No, but I almost forgot about _you_ ," Lambda replied. "You're right, though; the less time Xemnas has Kingdom Hearts in his clutches, or vice versa, the better."

"Last time, we needed two Keyblades to seal the Door to Darkness," Goofy recalled. "How many Keyblades d'ya think we'll need to open this one?"

Riku scoffed and summoned Way to Dawn. "It doesn't really matter; we definitely have enough. On three?"

Kairi summoned Destiny's Embrace. "Sure."

"One..." Mickey summoned the Kingdom Key D.

"Two..." Roxas summoned both his Keyblades.

"Three!" Sora summoned the Kingdom Key, and everyone pointed the tips of their weapons at each other to use a supercharged Release beam. The beam struck the giant door dead center, first creating a Keyhole and then unlocking it. The _Door to Nothing_ swung open slowly, revealing a fantastic swirl of multicolored light; what could be on the other side?

 **VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

 _Destroy the World of Nothing!_

Through the door was a similar place to the Dark City. Nondescript black buildings pressed in on both sides, forming a single path to follow.

"Where's Xemnas?" Sora yelled.

"Scanning...okay, never mind!" Lambda pointed up at the enormous, mechanical dragon looming over the city.

Xemnas stood atop a spike on a golden crown adorning the dragon's head, though it was almost impossible to make out the black speck of his coat from such a huge distance. He spoke as though musing to himself, but loudly enough to be heard clearly, even from such a long distance. "So, it seems your hearts have led you to obliteration. Perhaps it doesn't pay to be too loyal to one's heart. I will have to be sure and remember that."

With a simple gesture, Xemnas commanded the dragon - the _World of Nothing -_ to attack. A massive, clawed hand lashed out and seized a random building, then hurled it at the heroes before going back to clutching a broken-off tower.

Without warning, Kairi cut the whole falling building in half with one swing of Destiny's Embrace, causing everyone - including herself - to just _stare_ for a moment as two solid, five-story-tall chunks of concrete thudded into the street on either side of the group and disappeared. "...How did I do that?"

Xion guessed, "This place is inside Kingdom Hearts, right? Then the most important factor is our strength of heart. If we just do what comes naturally, we'll be fine!"

Xemnas watched expressionlessly from several miles away. With a crook of his finger, he summoned walls of concrete one after another, barring the heroes' path.

Sora rushed ahead, slicing rapidly with the Kingdom Key. Somehow, he ended up on the other side of the walls, and _then_ they fell apart. "C'mon, let's go!"

Riku commented, "It's a good thing being a badass comes naturally to Sora, then! I won't let myself be outdone, though!" He charged down the street, letting the rest of the group follow him.

Xemnas called out, "Your hearts are strong indeed, but this is Kingdom Hearts - _my_ Kingdom Hearts. You're outnumbered and outgunned." The street rose up as another building, bumping everyone into the air as another building fell down from above.

Sora cut the falling building in two, then the one falling right behind that one, creating platforms for everyone. "We'll be fine! You should be worrying about yourself, Xemnas!" Sora cut more floating buildings apart and created a path through the air, putting a new definition on the words "sky scraper". The heroes behind him instinctively nailed every jump on the fragments to keep up.

Mickey had the least trouble keeping up; acrobatic flips were his favorite way to get around. As they carried on, he explained why Xemnas still wasn't invincible. "Even if the millions of hearts that make up Kingdom Hearts are on Xemnas' side, they're all flimsy, artificial monsters. A million times Nothing is still Nothing." 

Lambda skipped off a particularly small fragment. "Right, and since the other worlds are on _our_ side, we're still stronger than him."

Namine added, _"Yes. Even you, Lambda. Otherwise, you wouldn't be able to keep up with the rest of us."_

Lambda perked up - she was still feeling kind of down about having no weapon of her own at the moment. "Hey, that's a good point. It looks like we made it, too!"

The group touched down on a catwalk suspended from the base of the World of Nothing. Two giant black cylinders hung from the dragon's legs, connected by a huge white tower; the hollow tubes glowed red. Donald asked, "Well, now what?"

"Scanning...energy buildup detected in right cylinder. These things are giant laser guns! Firing rate estimate: 30 seconds. Don't be standing on the catwalk when it fires!"

Riku looked at the general shape: two round objects on the end of one long shaft. "He's not even being subtle about blowing us up with his dragon's enormous-"

Lambda interrupted, "Riku, that's crass."

"Whoa!" Goofy stumbled away from a lesser Nobody that suddenly appeared. "Hey, I know these things...they're bombs!"

Sora recognized them, too. "Maybe we can break the cylinder if we knock 'em in!"

"20 seconds!"

Kairi batted a bomb Nobody into the red core of the cylinder, followed by two more that had the misfortune of spawning in the path of her swing.

Goofy spun around with his Goofy Tornado, batting bombs into the core in several groups. It seemed that knocking them in any direction caused the Nobodies to be sucked into the core.

Donald launched his Donald Blizzaga spells around, but they didn't displace the Nobodies, so he was forced to Reflect when a group of them blew up on him.

"5 seconds! Get clear!" Lambda jumped toward a pole up above them, using it as a fulcrum to get enough momentum to jump aaallllll the way over to the left cylinder. Everyone followed her lead; Goofy got clear of the danger zone just as a MASSIVE purple beam blasted out of the right cylinder; it surely would have annihilated anyone and anything in its path if someone had been left behind.

As everyone landed safely on the left cylinder, Lambda reported, "30 seconds to left cylinder discharge. We did a lot of damage to the right cylinder; we'll break it on the next pass."

"Let's break this one first!" Sora jumped around, whacking bombs left and right.

"Why do these bombs keep showing up? They're just helping us break the big guy." Riku blasted a clump of Nobodies with a Dark Firaga, then whacked the only survivor of the explosion with his Keyblade.

"Maybe they _want_ us to win?" Roxas wondered as he smacked away Nobodies with both hands.

"Lambda, why aren't you helping?" Donald griped.

"I have no weapon and limited spell casts, that's why. I can't waste any on these nuisances; there are bound to be bigger threats further inside." As much as it irked Lambda to have to hold back and let everyone else show off without her...

She had arranged five casts each of Firaga, Blizzaga, and Thundaga, along with ten Cures and two of Merlin's new Magnega Panels. The rest of the space was used on Panels that powered up the spells' damage output, such as Level Up Panels and Double Magic Level Link Panels. It had taken Lambda this long to set everything up, what with the hectic chase. Hopefully, she wouldn't need all those spells, but a chance to use _some_ of them would be nice.

The bombs that had been tossed into the left cylinder finally took their toll; as the laser's energy finished charging, something big exploded inside the core. A chain of explosions rocked the whole cylinder. "Get to the other side!" Riku grabbed Lambda around the waist and leaped across the gap between the two cylinders. Everyone followed as the left cylinder fell off of the World of Nothing and crashed to the ground far below. Riku touched down on the right cylinder and bragged, "I do all my own stunts."

Sora countered, "So do we! And we do teamwork, too! Donald, let's go!"

"Yeah!" Donald leaped onto Sora's shoulders and readied his Duck Flare spell, sending rockets flying straight into the core by the dozen. "Take that! And that! And a GIGADUCK FLARE!" The cylinder's sheer size made its core seem closer than it was, but Gigaduck Flare created a spectacular explosion even from so far away.

Meanwhile, Sora's hands were free, so he and Goofy threw their weapons and repeatedly re-summoned them to whack more Nobody bombs. Between the three of them, the last bit of structural integrity in the right cylinder was utterly smashed in five seconds flat.

"You three work well together!" Xion jumped up to the pole and looked higher up, but it seemed like the only place left to jump was WAY up on the big tower in the dragon's clutches. "That's a long way up... But I have strength of heart, right? If I believe in myself, can I fly?"

A spray of yellow sparkles accompanied the appearance of a familiar red greatsword in Xion's hands and a pair of elaborate wings on her back. Xion had used these weapons only once before, and that was the memory that hurt the most, but now... "Yes, I can!" Xion launched skyward with the wings that accompanied her manifestation of Sora's Sonic Blade skill.

Everyone else just jumped the whole way up. Lambda had to roll her eyes at everyone's flagrant abuse of physics, but she kept pace with the rest. This would probably be lots of fun if the fate of all worlds wasn't on the line.

The jump took them into a giant, Nobody symbol-shaped window on the tower. Inside the tower was a single room, with a piston-like structure that was obviously a generator of some sort set into the back wall.

Lambda decided it was time to use some spells. "Target acquired. Firaga! Blizzaga!" The Firaga arced over to the generator and exploded, but the Blizzaga spell just set a pinprick of blue-white energy where Lambda's fingertip was when she cast it - a mine for enemies to stumble into, if this enemy could move. "...Oops. Let's try again...Blizzaga!" This time, she got right up next to the core and poked it as she cast the spell, causing the ice mine to explode immediately and do significant damage.

Everyone else crowded in and started hacking the core to shreds with their Keyblades. They did so much damage that they triggered a defensive barrier and a squad of Dusks and Creepers to appear.

"Let's take care of these guys first!" Sora called out.

"No, allow me. Magnega!" Lambda held one hand over her head, creating a field of red-and-blue magic that drew all the Nobodies in. As they helplessly swirled over her head, Lambda yelled, "Thundaga!" A single, giant bolt of yellow lightning lanced down from above and crashed into the clump of Nobodies, causing them all to shock themselves and each other. They were all defeated with a satisfying series of pops.

The barrier around the core went down, and the other heroes immediately went back to whaling on it.

Namine, whose attention wasn't taken up with physical effort, warned, _"Riku, above us!"_

One of the World of Nothing's giant claws was reaching into the tower to try and smash the heroes flat. Riku instantly generated a Dark Shield over his free hand and jumped into the claw's path, forcing the metal menace to rebound from a kid barely a fraction of its size. "You're done, Xemnas!"

Another barrier formed over the critically-damaged core, heralding the arrival of a squad of Assassin and Berserker Nobodies - just another pointless distraction and a waste of servants.

Thinking quickly, Xion dismissed her Sonic Blade sword and wings (she was thinking of just calling the set "Sonic Blade") and summoned the jaw-sword combination of her Ragnarok manifestation. "I'll call this one 'Ouroboros.' I'm not sure if this might be mixing mythologies, but...Ragnarok!"

A swarm of orange streaks burst from the jaws of the newly-named Ouroboros. Each projectile homed in on a different Nobody and knocked its target into the air, where they were easy prey for a combination of Donald Thundaga and Goofy Tornado. Donald's spells didn't hurt his allies, so the Knight Captain scooped up the enemies and let the Royal Magician finish them off.

The barrier fell once more, allowing Mickey to rush in first and deal the final blow. Cracks formed on the Nobody symbol marked on the core, and the whole mechanism exploded in a burst of Light that washed over everyone...

When they could see again, the heroes were inside the crown on the dragon's head, judging by the shape of the open ceiling and how the purple clouds seemed to move overhead as the dragon's neck swung. In front of them was an ornate throne, and on that throne sat an armored figure wearing a face-obscuring helmet styled after a golden crown. A pulsing, reddish-orange _thing_ snaked up the armor's legs, supplying it with the power of Kingdom Hearts like a blood vessel. In the armor's right hand was a massive red sword that was almost twice as large as the rest of the enemy combined.

"Scanning... Target identified as Xemnas. Threat level: SS. Deity threshold reached. Termination of target moved to maximum priority."

Lambda suddenly cast every single attacking spell she had left, as fast as she could. Xemnas' king-like armor was instantly covered in burns, scrapes, bent parts, and patches of ice. The barrage of spells had weakened Xemnas almost by half before the fight had even really begun...but now Lambda was out of spells.

"CURSED FOOL!" Xemnas roared with uncharacteristic rage. The armor gestured weakly with one hand, causing movement from all around the chamber. Suddenly, the heroes noticed that the walls of the arena were covered in perfect copies of Organization XIII's weapons. This included Axel's chakrams, even though he'd defected from the group, and the weapons of the members defeated in Castle Oblivion, but thankfully not Roxas' Keyblades. All of the weapons began to fly through the air, slinging blue and red fire, ice, lightning, crystals, rocks, vines, holograms, water, and wind at the heroes among a large variety of flying exotic weapons.

Riku raised a Dark Barrier around the group, holding off the assault, but the strain of maintaining the shield showed on his face. He didn't have enough Darkness to keep this up forever; not anymore. "Mickey, get ready!"

"Gotcha, buddy!" Mickey charged up the Power of Light until the Dark Barrier broke, then released it in one massive wave, destroying all the flying weapons.

"Nice work, Your Majesty!" Sora gave the King a thumbs-up.

Mickey scratched the back of his head bashfully. "Aw, it was nothin'! Now, let's deal with the real threat! ...Hey, Lambda! What're ya doing?"

Lambda had no weapons, no spells, and no armor, but she was still up in Xemnas' face, standing on his lap and kicking his helmet with her bare feet. "Chakram evaded. Continuing attack." She was barely a nuisance to the abomination the Superior had become. With an incoherent shout, Xemnas swung his massive sword and released a storm of crackling red energy to blast Lambda away.

"Lambda!" Riku caught her as she was flung away, then held onto her shoulder to keep her from jumping right back in. "Lambda, activate control protocol and _stop!_ As your Master, I order you to stand down!"

Lambda finally stopped pulling forward. "A-acknowledged."

Riku sighed. "Release control protocol."

Lambda hugged him for a second, then pulled away to let him fight. "Thank you, dear."

"Don't you 'dear' me! You could've gotten hurt! Stay right there and don't jump in like that again!"

"Acknowledged, Master Riku...dear."

Riku chuckled at the addition. "Heh. Thanks for doing your best, Lambda. I'll take it from here."

"No, I will!" Sora leaped forward and smashed the Kingdom Key into Xemnas, ripping his armor in two from crown to boot. The disturbingly biological mass feeding power into the armor pulled away, shining a bright Light over the heroes.

When everyone could see again, they were on a white tower, standing alone over a huge city. Xemnas was on one knee in front of them, clutching his chest in obvious pain.

"I need...more rage! I need...more...hearts..."

Sora, being the pure-hearted idiot that he was, asked in a sympathetic tone, "Xemnas...there's more to a heart than just anger or hate. It's full of all kinds of feelings. Don't you remember?"

Xemnas just glared at Sora as he began to fade away. "Unfortunately...I don't." Most of the hearts that made up this Kingdom Hearts had never had any Light inside them. They couldn't infuse any emotions but hate and rage into Xemnas' deliberately empty shell, and now even those weak emotions were fading away. Xemnas vanished entirely.

Everyone celebrated for a few moments. The mess with Organization XIII and Kingdom Hearts finally seemed to be over. Mickey congratulated everyone, "Wow, you all did great!"

Suddenly the tower began to shake. "What's happening?" Kairi asked.

Namine replied, _"This place won't last much longer without Xemnas maintaining it. We've got to go."_

Riku moved to the side of the group. "I'll open a path!" He flung out a hand to open a Dark Corridor.

...Or not. Nothing happened. Mickey told him, "You don't belong in the Realm of Darkness anymore, Riku."

Xion spoke up. "I'll take it from here." She opened a Dark Corridor. "This goes to Destiny Islands. Let's go, everyone."

Roxas cheered, "Yes! We get to go to the beach!" He dashed through at full speed.

Donald mumbled, "Sure, why not?" and passed through.

Goofy added as he followed Donald, "I'm lookin' forward to seein' your home, Sora!"

Mickey was already through; he was always a few steps ahead.

Kairi stepped into the portal and waved at the last three heroes to follow her, starting with Xion. "C'mon, guys. Let's go home!"

"I wonder if it looks anything like the illusion from Castle Oblivion?" Lambda wondered. But as she got both legs through the portal, it began to waver and distort. "Threat levels rising. Riku! Sora! Be careful!" The portal vanished, leaving Sora and Riku behind.

Behind where the portal stood, far in the distance, was a glass orb caught between the spires of several buildings. As Riku and Sora watched, the orb shattered and released another mechanical dragon.

 **VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

 _A/N: The rest of the final battles and epilogue will be in the next chapter, which is almost completely written and will hopefully be posted shortly. As Hades would say, "Stay tuned!"_


	30. Hearts are Power!

**Silver Linings**

 **Chapter 30: "Hearts Are Power!"**

 _A/N: Here's the rest of the final battles! Sorry it took so long._

 **VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

 _Destroy the World of Emptiness!_

The dragon swooped past the tower, knocking out the last few supports. The whole tower began to tilt and crumble. A glider of some sort came into view as the remaining pair of heroes began to slide off the falling tower. Riku took a gamble and leaped into the driver's seat. "Sora!"

"Gotcha!" Sora jumped onto a platform for passengers on the left side of the purple vehicle. Neither of them had seen a craft like this before, so he had to ask: "Riku, do you know how to fly this thing?" 

"No, but we don't have a choice!" Luckily, the controls turned out to be extremely simple. The glider automatically followed the dragon, perhaps because it was the largest threat. All Riku had to do was move a single joystick to fly the craft up, down, left, or right, and there were a couple of interesting-looking buttons beside that. One of them launched a salvo of blue, homing lasers, but they bounced right off the thick armor of the _World of Emptiness_.

"We need something with a bit more kick to get through that thing's armor. What do the other buttons do?" Sora summoned the Kingdom Key and stood at the ready. There was no seat or harness for the passenger on this thing, but Sora had fought Heartless aboard a much bumpier ride on the Magic Carpet in Agrabah before. He wasn't in any danger of falling off, and Riku's flying skills were actually really good for his first time.

"Let's try...this one." There were three buttons, labeled Laser, Drain, and Mega-Laser. The Drain and Laser buttons were lit up in white, but the Mega-Laser button wasn't, so Riku pressed Drain. A blue shield shimmered into existence around the glider for a moment, then faded away. "I guess the shield eats ranged attacks to charge the Mega-Laser."

"So all we have to do is wait for that thing to attack us?" Sora rolled his eyes. So many of his enemies could never have been beaten if they didn't attack in ways that made themselves vulnerable.

The dragon wasn't the first to attack, though - another group of four white-glowing Nobodies that Sora recognized from the Gummi Routes showed up. The small fighters shot streams of purple shots at the heroes' hijacked glider.

Riku punched the Drain button with the right timing to absorb the shots, which he noticed filled part of a gauge on the dashboard. Then he hit the Laser button, launching a volley of four blue lasers that homed in on the smaller Nobodies and shot them down. The downed Nobodies crashed into the dragon, leaving visible marks on its tail. "We hurt it! It's just a matter of time now!"

The dragon finally attacked. It fired rocket boosters from two cylinders on its sides; it swooped further ahead and looped around to face the heroes, then arced its tail underneath it and launched a swarm of missiles. Rather than take the risk of trying to use the Drain function on solid projectiles, Riku swerved up and then to the right to dodge the missiles. As the dragon went back to flying normally, another squad of fighters showed up. Riku absorbed their shots and shot them down, causing more damage to the tail, then checked the gauge. "Alright! We've got full power! Let's try this Mega-Laser thing!"

Riku punched the Mega-Laser button with a bit more force than necessary. Instantly, a blinding beam of multicolored energy blasted out from underneath the glider. The beam was larger than the entire vehicle! It bored into the World of Emptiness, cutting right through the four missile-launching nodes on the dragon's tail. As the Mega-Laser continued to fire, it split into two separate beams that moved gradually farther apart.

By the time the laser finally sputtered out, the dragon's tail was irreparably damaged. The missile launchers had been blown clear off, and the joints of the tail were fused together, preventing it from bending as the dragon flew.

Sora gave voice to both boys' opinion of the attack. "That. Was. Awesome!"

"No kidding! But it looks like we'll need to hit somewhere else to really stop this thing. How do I speed up... There we go!" Riku's foot found a pedal that caused the glider to accelerate. He eased off as they approached a large cylinder on the dragon's right side. Further along the dragon's massive body, it crossed its arms and swung them down with a mighty roar, summoning a glyph made of glowing Nobody symbols near the glider. Riku swerved out of the way; just as he thought, the glyph fired a blue-white laser where he'd been.

Another glyph appeared, then another. Riku swooped and dove and dodged them all. Just as he was getting tired of dodging, the glyphs stopped appearing. Instead, a pair of Nobodies with spiky wheels showed up and launched yellowish-pink, homing lasers. Riku caught them on a shield, noting that the pink lasers were much more effective at charging the Mega-Laser than the purple shots had been.

A group of three bomb Nobodies appeared around the craft, just like the last time they'd knocked a cylinder off a dragon. "Sora, can you handle the bombs?"

"No problem! Just get me in close!" With some fancy joystick maneuvers - Riku was essentially learning to fly a Gummi Ship, and doing so really fast - the glider swooped close to the bombs, allowing Sora to smack them into the dragon with his Keyblade. Just like before, the bombs did massive damage to the cylinder where the heroes' own attacks couldn't. Another pair of spiky Nobodies appeared; Riku absorbed their shots and fired another Mega-Laser. "Take that!" Sora whooped as the right cylinder was blasted off.

Riku climbed up and over the dragon, between its wings, and down to the left cylinder. The dragon spawned another series of glyphs, which Riku handily avoided. "Lather, rinse, repeat. Why won't Xemnas fight us himself?"

"You think this is Xemnas' doing?" Sora asked. Oddly enough, he hadn't really thought about why they were fighting a huge dragon after Xemnas vanished.

As he absorbed a salvo of pink lasers, Riku theorized, "He made those Absent Silhouettes out of the defeated Organization members, remember? I think he can do that with his own body, too, and put his own mind into the new body. He did it when you beat him before."

Sora realized the ramifications of that power. "What?! Then he could come back as many times as he wants! How do we beat him?"

Riku grinned savagely as he launched a third Mega-Laser. "Simple: we crush him so badly that he won't want to come back anymore."

"Whoa, Riku, when did you get so edgy?" Still, Sora whistled appreciatively as the left cylinder fell to the ground.

Riku smirked. "It's how I roll. You guys could use a supervillain on your team, especially against enemies like this." He boosted ahead of the dragon and looked over his shoulder to see where they should attack next.

"You're _not_ a supervillain, Riku," Sora insisted.

"Maybe not, but I know how they think. I had Ansem...Xehanort's Heartless...inside me for a long time, remember? Then I body-snatched him. I've mind-controlled one of Lambda's enemies, made liberal use of the Power of Darkness in lots of other ways, and let's not forget those times I fought you a year ago. I've got a lot of bad powers, but I want to use the tools Ansem gave me to help my friends. And wouldn't that be the perfect revenge?" As he spoke, Riku swerved around a swarm of missiles from the dragon swooping overhead, then dodged a series of glyphs. "I wish Donald let me on the Gummi Ship back then; this is kind of fun."

The glider closed in on the dragon's left wing, and Sora started smacking some more bombs. "We only have three seats on the Gummi Ship."

"Oh. That makes sense. Why didn't Donald say so?" Riku enthusiastically launched another Mega-Laser. "Aaand click! This attack never gets old!"

"Donald is...you know." Sora braced his feet as the glider swerved around yet another swarm of missiles and lasers.

"Yeah, he's...Donald. Even if he did say something, I might not have understood him... Well, if you can put up with him, I can too." Riku moved in to attack the other wing.

Sora bopped some bombs. "He's really helpful in a pinch, and for all his talk, he would never leave the rest of us behind. Wait, how is that thing still flying with only one wing?!"

"I don't think the wings are what's keeping it airborne. But let's test that theory..." One final Mega-Laser severed the right wing. With a loud screech, the World of Emptiness crashed head-first into the city below.

Riku slowed the glider to a hover and watched the dragon crumple. "Well, so much for the theory. We've grounded the dragon. Now what?"

Suddenly, a storm of Nothing-energy swirled up around the dragon. Sora and Riku barely had time to look at each other before the glider was sucked into the vortex.

 **VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

 _Defeat Xemnas!_

Sora and Riku became aware of their surroundings again. There was a black void behind them and a distorted top-down view of the city in front of them. Between the heroes and the ground below them - er, in front of them - loomed yet _another_ mechanical dragon, the _World of Naught,_ seemingly pulling itself out of a rift in the middle of this strange space.

Several details had changed between the new dragon and the previous one, such as the shape of its wings and the addition of large plates on its arms. Most importantly, the World of Naught's head was open on top, so Riku swooped the glider in close to take a peek inside. Sure enough, Xemnas' armored form sat on a throne inside the dragon's head. Riku and Sora jumped off the glider into the throne room to confront Xemnas...but the glider was pulled away into the void behind them as soon as they disembarked.

"Rats. I wanted to keep that thing," Riku grumbled without much rancor. He wasn't worried about the outcome of this fight at all.

Sora wasn't, either. Instead of focusing on Xemnas, he mentioned to Riku, "I wanted to thank Namine...you know, like the note in the Journal said I should. But I just couldn't do it...not until everything's back to normal."

Jiminy Cricket startled them both by hopping out of Sora's hair. "Good to know you got some use out of my Journal, Sora!"

Riku had forgotten Jiminy was still tagging along with Sora at all, but decided not to say so. Instead, he readied his Keyblade and reminded Sora, "Let's beat this guy and get back home. Then you can thank Namine all you want. I have some thanks to give her, too."

"Right! Be sure to take notes, Jiminy - this is gonna be epic!" Sora readied his weapon, and rushed at Xemnas. He got in a few quick hits, then Dodge Rolled away to avoid the Superior's retaliation. Something about the Dodge Roll felt different - it was easier than ever to roll across such a long distance.

Riku dashed into range, surprising himself by managing a flash-step. "I thought I couldn't do that anymore. Is Kingdom Hearts empowering us, too?"

"Well, I'm not complaining!" Sora and Riku battered Xemnas with a flurry of combos, but the armored hulk sent them flying away with just a wordless roar.

The blast sent them flying all the way out of the dragon. They almost ended up falling into the black void behind them, but Sora caught Riku and did an Aerial Dodge to stop their momentum. Then he did another and another - he could do endless air-jumps!

Riku was getting kind of dizzy from the constant spinning, so he pulled away from Sora and began flying under his own power, the same way he did when he looked like Ansem. "C'mon, Sora, we've got a job to do!"

 _"Hearts are power!"_ Xemnas' voice carried across the void as the World of Naught roared and summoned a group of floating buildings all over the place. Several of the buildings tumbled in Sora and Riku's direction, but the heroes easily flew around them.

Xemnas roared, _"Nothingness! Is! Eternal!"_ The World of Naught pulled its arms in front of itself, using new parts welded to the arms to form a round shield emblazoned with the Nobody symbol. Its new, segmented wings fired a salvo of red lasers upward, which then zoomed in Sora's direction. Another Aerial Dodge let him avoid the shots.

Sora started Gliding toward the dragon. "Hey, I didn't know I could do that! Maybe it's from the Final Form thing Roxas did? Or maybe from the first adventure? Then again, who cares?"

Sora weaved around floating buildings and approached the shield, but the shield bashed outward and sent out a concussive shockwave that knocked the hero right back to where he started. _"Why do you despise the void?"_

"Why do _you_ worship it?" Riku looked around for other options. His gaze locked onto one of the floating buildings, which had been quite helpful back when everyone was fighting Xemnas at once. "Hey Sora, get over here! I've got a plan!"

 _"Sora...are you certain you can trust Riku?"_

To both of them, Sora replied, "Sure!" Sora zoomed over to Riku, who was crouched on one of the floating buildings. "What now?"

"Now you need to hit me at that shield!" Riku faced forward and braced himself.

Sora understood the plan. "Got it. I hope you're ready!" With a mighty swing of the Kingdom Key, Sora sent the floating building rocketing right at the World of Naught's shield, with Riku riding atop it.

The building crashed dead-center into the shield, which split apart for a moment before slamming back together. _"Riku...are you sure you're not jealous of Sora?"_

"Shut up already!" Riku crushed the rebounding building with a heavy whack of his Keyblade, sending the fragments back into the shield like a meteor swarm. This time, the shield stayed down.

 _"Embrace...nothing!"_ A trio of glyphs appeared in front of Sora, and another group targeted Riku. They both climbed higher as fast as they could, outpacing the spinning lasers generated by those and two more sets of glyphs. Then they landed in the throne room to have another go at Xemnas himself.

Though Xemnas tried to keep the heroes away from his throne with walls of energy and rows of laser glyphs that traced lines across the room, he was sorely outmatched. Sora and Riku closed in and ripped up the Nobody's armor with their Keyblades. In desperation, he blasted the heroes out of the dragon and set up his array of defenses once more, but the boys dismantled the World of Naught's shield the same way as before. This time, it sustained too much damage, and the shield parts fell off the dragon's arms, leaving Xemnas defenseless.

The heroes dove into the throne room and drove their Keyblades into Xemnas' chest simultaneously, causing a wave of Nothing to spill out and drown everything.

 **VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

 _Meanwhile, with Lambda..._

 _Area: UNKNOWN (T-System Core)_

Lambda had been separated from the others within the unstable Corridor of Darkness. A sharper sense of dislocation told her she'd been pulled through a Time Break as well - this was only the second time she'd crossed one, and it was the first time while she self-aware.

She looked around at a blank white space; her systems recognized it as Takamagahara, an artificial god created to manage the time loops in the Azure Timeline, but the AIs that were supposed to exist in this space were nowhere to be found. All that remained was an empty, white void.

Thankfully, their absence meant Lambda's preset directive to slay gods didn't take over, but it was still worrisome. What could have destroyed the Takamagahara System? And besides that system, who would use this space, and for what? Who would bring Lambda here, especially in a way that required such precise manipulation of space-time? Was it Xemnas? Yuuki Terumi?

In a way, the real culprit was worse than Lambda feared: Relius Clover. Lambda turned around and was confronted with the magenta-cloaked Mad Puppeteer standing right behind her. He was taller than her, and he paid no mind to her personal space.

The soulless lenses of Relius' opera mask had no pupils, but Lambda could feel them burrowing into her very soul as he loomed over her. He was scanning her through some connection to the Boundary, and whatever method he used wasn't designed to consider the comfort of the soul being scanned.

For five seconds, Relius said nothing and did nothing; he just continued to stare. Then he suddenly laughed with genuine good humor, though Lambda couldn't tell what was so funny. "Ha ha ha! ...Interesting! _Very_ interesting! Number 11...I would never have guessed _that_ Prime Field Device would be the original source of the Time Break anomalies. It was outright designed to fail at its original programmed tasks; it was built merely as payment for a small debt to Sector Seven for the use of their facilities. By all rights, it should have been consumed by the Boundary, tested to destruction by the fools of Sector Seven, or at least ended up in the already-unlikely role currently filled by Kokonoe's so-called '2.0' version.

"Yet, it seems it somehow fell into a hole in the established harmony and created a stable role for itself on the other side. Some parallels can be drawn to the anomalies displayed by Number 12, but this is perhaps an even greater find! That soul is a wonder; it's been altered piece by piece, and now it's changed from a Murakumo Unit to something almost entirely different. Such a disjointed, chaotic soul, yet it's more stable than even the beastkin's! By what means was this soul altered? ...Ah, I see! This power; it may be a counterpart to the power of the Azure that exists in the 'Heart Timeline'. What we have here is an extremely valuable specimen; why, by studying its structure, I may be able to use this power to stabilize my masterpiece!"

Lambda had been held rigid while Relius spoke about her as an object, musing to himself as though there were no other people present. Her body wouldn't obey her commands...only _his_. Relius Clover was the Architect of every Prime Field Device - he was the highest Master of their control protocols. Lambda hadn't been thorough enough in replacing his access with Riku's, and now her body was just another puppet forced to dance on the Mad Puppeteer's strings.

"Ignis." All Relius said was that name, but the magenta-clad combat doll that appeared at his side reached forward with its menacing claws to obey some unspoken command.

Lambda tried to move. She tried to attack. She tried to summon Murakumo. She tried to release the Power of Light within herself. If nothing else, she would have settled for fleeing, but nothing she tried did any good. "Error. Error. Attack not possible. Escape not possible. Useless...useless...Sending priority alert to Master Riku...insufficient signal strength." Ignis grabbed hold of Lambda's face and lifted her off the indiscernible ground.

"'Master Riku'? Ah, I _thought_ there was defective code there, but it's deliberate: you've written a jury-rigged patch into the control protocol. I am here, asserting my position as Master, so the faulty logic sustaining that patch no longer applies. Subject Eleven, engage control protocol level four."

Lambda stuttered, "Control...control protocol...level...f-four...loading...loading..."

First action, then expression, then emotion - the control protocol was designed to lock down a Prime Field Device in cumulative stages. Levels one and two were Lambda's gift to Riku. Level three had helped save her from Hazama. Level four, however, could never be a good thing. It would erase Lambda's memories and personality entirely, and could theoretically erase her soul itself. Not only would this protocol utterly destroy her sense of self as "Lambda", it would erase the very same changes Relius hoped to research - her friends, her love, her free will. The machine, Number 11, would be all that remained - a sub-optimal amalgam of parts that would be useless to the Architect.

Lambda slowed the process as much as she could by reporting that counter-argument, by queuing up useless events like database searches, and even by deliberately overheating her processors to cause lag, but she could still feel the control protocol creeping up the queue, locking down her limbs, her emotional displays, her senses...

Physically, Lambda's face showed no emotion. In her head, Lambda cried for mercy, begged for it to stop, pleaded for someone to save her. She screamed for the ones who had helped her before: _"Mickey. Yen Sid. Sora. Namine. RIKU!"_

 _Priority alert for Master Riku...insufficient signal strength. Attempting to boost signal strength...failed._

What would Riku say? Lambda already knew. _"Giving up already? C'mon, Lambda! I thought you were stronger than that!"_

 _Boost signal strength...impossible. Attack...impossible. Escape...impossible. Accept defeat Y/N?_

 _"NO! No, I will NOT accept this! It's NOT his choice to make!"_

 _Control protocol level four: executing in 20 seconds..._

A memory came unbidden to Lambda's mind. Even the Cheshire Cat had something to say about this... _"That depends on your choice. What you choose is always the most important thing."_

 _10 seconds..._

Lambda herself had pointed out to Namine: _"If that's what your heart's decided, then the only thing left is to do it."_

 _5 seconds..._

 _3..._ No one was coming to help her...

 _2..._ Lambda had to save herself...

 _1..._ And so she would. Period. End of discussion. All of Lambda's doubts vanished at once.

 **Your heart is the key that will create the future.**

A bright Light shone from nowhere...or was it all in Lambda's head? Her vision was still offline.

 _Control protocol execution...failed._

With a gasp, Lambda suddenly regained control of her body. She felt something in her hand. Looking down, she saw what it was: a Keyblade!

 **Keyblade... Elysium... Keyblade... Elysium...**

The theme of its appearance was definitely based on Lambda's old Battle Mode. It had a spiky, round handguard that looked like the hilt of Murakumo's sealed state, a meter-long length of steel shaped like an upside-down leg blade for the shaft, and four miniature Petals acting as the teeth of the key. A thin silver cord connected the hilt to a green Keychain shaped like Lambda's Distortion Drive crest, with all its intricate details scaled down to a tiny charm the size of her thumb.

Lambda could feel **Elysium's** power surging through her entire being: a shining Light that continued to burn away all the parts of her programming that could be activated against her will. The weapon raised itself to point firmly at Relius, who merely stroked his beard as though Lambda had become even more fascinating.

"Intriguing! It appears the stress of resisting my order has awakened yet another latent power within the subject. Unfortunately, the control protocol isn't responding, and I don't have time to recalibrate it right now. Ignis, collect Subject 13 instead. Then report to my new coordinates. There is one last experiment to run before I leave these worlds to my successor."

Ignis disappeared to go "collect" Nu-13...but why? The lenses on Relius' mask visibly flashed white as he Observed a new Time Break into existence - a huge one. Lambda was caught in the expansion and pulled back to the Heart Timeline with Relius.

 **VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

 _The Realm of Nothingness..._

 _Sora and Riku: Defeat Xemnas once and for all!_

Sora and Riku opened their eyes again; the scenery had changed entirely. Everything around them was white, off-white, or gray. Geometric patterns like those found inside the generic buildings they'd been demolishing swirled into circular voids, like water pouring down a drain. There was no floor, but the strange non-space was distorted beneath their feet; it seemed solid.

And of course, Xemnas was here, too. He wore a Black Coat, but this time with jagged black-and white designs all over it rather than the plain black cloth that had come to be expected.

Riku taunted, "What, you don't have any more dragons?"

"Ugh, don't give him ideas, Riku!" Sora rolled his eyes, but gripped his Keyblade and got ready to fight.

Xemnas proclaimed, "Heroes from the Realm of Light! I will not allow it to end this way...not yet. If Light and Darkness are eternal, then surely we nothings must be the same... _eternal!_ "

Riku and Sora relaxed their battle stances to indulge Xemnas' need for speeches. Riku replied, "You're right. Light and Darkness are eternal. Nothing probably goes on forever, too. But guess what Xemnas? Despite your claims, you're not Nothing itself..." 

Sora finished, "...So that doesn't mean _you're_ eternal!"

Xemnas merely chuckled. "No more eternal than that radiance of yours." Xemnas summoned his Ethereal Blades, and the Keyblade wielders got ready to fight.

Suddenly, Xemnas was right in front of them. "Welcome to _my_ Realm. You shall go together!" A swirl of Nothing thorns wrapped around the heroes and flung them upward (figuring "up" from the only floor in this place). Xemnas launched himself after them fast enough to catch Sora off-guard, raking along the boy's back with an Ethereal Blade. Then the Superior vanished again to attack from another direction.

This time, Sora was ready. On instinct, he did a similar trick to the special Reversal move Roxas used to dance around the Twilight Thorn, dodging another swing of the lasers, then a spinning kick charged with Nothing, then a spin attack...

Even as Xemnas launched this rapid string of attacks, he was also targeting Riku with similar strikes, moving fast enough to harry both Keyblade wielders at once. Riku followed Sora's lead, using Reversal around as many attacks as he could, but Xemnas managed to get in a lucky hit that sent Riku plummeting downward.

"Riku!" While Sora was distracted, Xemnas disarmed him with a hard whack against the Kingdom Key, following up with an axe kick that sent Sora rocketing downward after Riku.

Thinking quickly, Riku grabbed the Kingdom Key as it tumbled past his head and flung it back to Sora. Both of them smashed their Keyblades against Xemnas' next attack, pushing all three combatants away from each other.

Sora used Quick Run to approach Riku and cast Curaga. "He's way faster than before!"

"Yeah, we're going to need to step up our game, too." Riku launched a volley of Dark Firagas at Xemnas, and the Superior...fell over backwards and died?

"Riku, behind you!" Sora blocked the real Xemnas' spinning kick. Across the battlefield, the fake shell made of Nothing vanished. Sora retaliated, finally scoring some good hits against Xemnas, but the Superior swapped to another Absent Silhouette to escape the combo.

Riku growled. "I knew it. Well, Sora, we're going with my plan."

"What, 'group up and hit him until he dies?' Not much of a plan." Xemnas threw a hand forward, launching thorny Nothing streaks at Sora, who rode the currents of Nothing with another Reversal to get behind Xemnas again for an air combo.

His combo finisher sent him toward Riku, who started an air combo of his own. Each strike flowed seamlessly into the next, keeping Xemnas too occupied to create another Absent Silhouette. As Xemnas drifted out of reach, Riku blasted him with a Dark Firaga and flash-stepped back to Sora. "You forgot the 'keep doing that until he stops getting back up' part. We need to match his movement speed with our attack speed, too."

Xemnas appeared between the heroes. "If you have so much time to conspire against me, can you spare...a heart?" He launched a continuous beam of energy at Sora, holding the brunet suspended in midair inside a field of constant pain. Riku tried to interrupt Xemnas by attacking from the side, only to receive a brutal snap kick for his trouble. Riku was thrown an impressive distance away and had to do multiple handsprings to try and slow down his momentum; the last person who managed to kick him that hard was _Azrael_. OUCH.

"Hold on, Sora!" Riku now had to get back to Xemnas and somehow stop the attack before it broke Sora down. Setting his jaw in grim determination, Riku ran forward, only to have to jump sideways as a Xemnas doppelganger set a wall of energy in his path. Riku stunned the clone with a series of Dark Firagas as he continued to run, dodged another wall that tried to bump him sideways, and finally allowed the last wall to hit him and send him flying right toward the real Xemnas.

With no time to come up with a better move, Riku slammed into Xemnas' palms with his own left hand, shorting out the attack, but sending a painful shock up his own arm. Sora dropped limply to the ground. Enduring the pain, Riku swung Xemnas' whole body around in a circle and tossed him far away. "Is that all you've got?"

It was a bit of a bluff; that energy charge had _hurt_. But Riku had another borderline-insane plan to deal with that: "Heal!" Riku's healing spell looked different from Sora's, producing a blue sphere of intangible Light around himself and Sora rather than a swirl of green leaves and yellow petals, but it worked!

Sora picked himself off the ground and finished healing them both with his own Curaga spell. "Thanks, Riku! I owe you one!"

Riku took a second to catch his breath. "I'll remember the score for later, but this isn't over yet."

"Indeeeeed. Why don't you vanish...?" Xemnas flew around and flash-stepped repeatedly, leaving behind copies of his Ethereal Blades that hung in the air for a moment before launching straight at the heroes as laser shots. Sora found it easy to deflect them off his Keyblade, and Riku did the same as they both defended against a full ring of lasers while standing back-to-back.

Two copies of Xemnas appeared a short distance away and launched rapid streams of lasers; Sora and Riku pressed against the onslaught with their Keyblades. Once the barrage ended and the fake Xemnas disappeared, Riku and Sora closed in. "Sora, let's try Eternal Session!"

"Count me in!" Sora led the first move this time.

The two heroes rushed in for several rapid stabs, then swooped out to launch projectiles. The next series of stabs ended with them both activating Bladecharge and delivering several sweeping attacks.

"XIII Blades!" Sora constructed thirteen blades of Light and spun them in a circle as he and Riku flew around freely, shoving Xemnas ahead of them.

"Twilight Barrage!" Riku cloaked the swords in Darkness and sent them homing in on Xemnas.

Riku tossed Way to Dawn upward. "Time's up!"

Sora followed suit with the Kingdom Key. "Let's go!"

Blasts of Light and Darkness sprayed out of the two Keyblades, meeting in the center as an ever-expanding sphere of destruction. "ALL'S END!"

Xemnas took direct hits from every single attack, leaving his coat torn to shreds, his limbs mangled, and his hair burned short, but he simply swapped to another Absent Silhouette as soon as the string of attacks finally ended. Now in a brand-new body with no damage on it whatsoever, he hovered just out of reach of the Keyblade wielders.

Xemnas gathered two massive orbs of Nothing-energy in his outstretched hands and slammed them together, covering everything in pitch blackness. "Your Light is strong, but you cannot defeat me." In the all-consuming black, devoid of both Light and Darkness, red dots became visible in all directions, enclosing Sora and Riku in a dome of hanging laser blasts! "In this Realm, there's no such thing as the Light!"

One by one, the lasers rained down on the heroes. Individually, the attacks were easy to deflect with their Keyblades. The problem was the sheer number of lasers - hundreds and hundreds of them struck from every direction, and the barrage only grew faster over time. The lasers were slowly replaced as they were fired; eventually the barrage would run out, but Sora and Riku would have to survive until then.

Operating on pure survival instinct, the duo swung into motion, seamlessly deflecting each and every laser. When an attack came at one boy's back, the other would block for him. The way they swung their Keyblades was different; Sora's swings were fast and direct, bringing him right where he needed to be, whereas Riku spun his Keyblade around his hand and sliced in curved paths that dealt with multiple targets as he stayed in constant motion. Somehow, the two styles melded flawlessly. They never once tripped over each other's feet or locked Keyblades, nor did they ever end up trying to block the same attack.

The deadly dance only lasted half a minute. By that time, the barrage had sped up to the point where fifty lasers were fired in the time it took one laser to recharge. More by luck than anything, many of the reflected lasers ended up hitting Xemnas, and his concentration on the barrage finally broke. The field of blackness burned away in a cluster of explosions, leaving Sora and Riku on their knees, panting in exhaustion, back in the white-and-gray Realm of Nothingness. Almost all their strength and stamina had been spent just to survive that one assault.

Xemnas struck Riku, sending him tumbling away from Sora. Sora looked up at an Ethereal Blade pressed against his neck. "This is the end."

"Sora!" Xemnas' mistake was winding back his arm to strike; if he had simply pressed a little harder, Sora would have been decapitated right there. Instead, he gave Riku the split-second he needed to get back into the fray, knock the Ethereal Blade away, and shove Sora to safety, all in one motion.

Xemnas smirked as he brought his other Ethereal Blade around with the momentum of being blocked, scoring a brutal blow on Riku's back.

"Riku!" Sora watched as Way to Dawn tumbled from Riku's grip...and then Sora _moved_. He shot forward, gripped Way to Dawn in his left hand, and slammed both Keyblades into Xemnas' torso with all his strength.

Sora struck Xemnas over and over. Up until now, Sora had been pulling his blows at least a little bit; because he didn't really want to hurt anyone, even the nasty combos he'd dealt to the other Organization members rarely caused any visible, physical damage, but that was not the case here. "This is for Riku and Lambda! For Roxas and Xion! For Kairi and Namine! For all my friends from Disney Castle, and for all my friends EVERYWHERE ELSE!"

Xemnas was dragged into the air and brutally ripped apart, leaving his Nothing-forged flesh hanging in rough shreds. A scissoring blow from both Keyblades actually bisected the so-called Superior at the waist - his legs fell downward and faded away, while the rest of him was launched even further up! The pain from his brutal dismemberment was so severe that Xemnas couldn't even focus on creating a new Absent Silhouette for several seconds.

Sora used that final push to shoot back to the ground and land next to Riku.

Riku tried to come up with a plan. "We've got to seal his power away somehow, or he'll just fix himself!"

Sora got a brilliant idea. "Wait, 'seal'...I've got it! Riku, are you ready?" He reached down and offered Riku his hand.

Sora didn't explain, but Riku understood the plan perfectly. He grasped Sora's hand, sending as much encouragement as he could across that connection, along with a surge of Light. "Xemnas! Your power is as fake as that body! Prepare to lose it all! Now, Sora!"

"LIGHT!" Sora launched a beam from his Keyblade. Xemnas had just enough time to widen his eyes before the beam struck him right through his hollow chest, using the Keyblade's power - to release or seal any lock - to seal away Xemnas' power over Nothing.

Xemnas tried to jump to another Absent Silhouette, but found himself stuck in a single body for the first time he could remember, even when he was "Xehanort". Thus, for the first time ever, Xemnas knew true fear.

Sora passed Riku back his Keyblade, and the duo launched into the air, cutting through what was left of Xemnas in a cross shape. Nothing matter spilled out from his body in a rapid stream, washing his existence away until there was finally - finally! - no trace left of him. Not even Nothing remained.

 **VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

 _Sora and Riku: Keep going!_

"We...we did it!"

Riku smelled something amiss. His enhanced senses pricked at his awareness, alerting him before the arrival of a massive horde of Dusks that had come to avenge their liege. "I wouldn't be too sure of that..."

Sora yelled at the Nobodies, "Why are you still after us!? You're free! Xemnas wasn't going to make you whole anyway! You can do whatever you want, so why do you want to kill us?"

Riku pushed himself shakily to his feet, yanking as much Darkness from his heart as he could still hold. He had enough for at least one last fight... "Sorry, weirdos, but we don't have time to talk." He summoned Soul Eater to his left hand (which was a trick he could still do), channeled _all_ of his gathered Darkness into it, tossed the demonic sword into the air, and finally shot a Release beam at it from Way to Dawn. "Get down, Sora! SOUL BREAKER!"

Soul Eater exploded, washing the Nobodies away in a single, massive burst of Darkness. After the wave passed over the area, all the Dusks were eliminated, but this final, desperate attack had used up all of Riku's strength. He collapsed face-first.

"Whoa..." Sora marveled at the impressive attack and decisive results, thankful that the blast flowed around him rather than sweeping him away with the Dusks. Then he noticed Riku lying motionless on the ground. "Riku, are you okay?" He rushed over and hoisted the silver-haired boy over his shoulder. It wasn't the best arrangement, since Riku was so much taller, but it was what they had.

Riku started to say, "Sora...I can't-"

"Don't say another word! It's not over! It's just...not." Sora was trying not to cry again; what if Riku actually died here? No. Just...no. He _wouldn't_. Sora wouldn't _let_ Riku run away like that again.

Riku couldn't keep the same level of stubborn optimism. The attack name he'd just coined, "Soul Breaker", wasn't entirely metaphorical; he had left a deep scar in his own heart with that attack, and he could already smell that invisible wound filling up with Darkness. He couldn't afford to use that attack in the future...if he still even had a future. "How can you say that?! Even if we could go on...look where we are." They were still trapped in the Realm of Nothing, even though their enemies had all been defeated.

"Aw, c'mon, Riku! You've been hanging out in Darkness too long. You gotta try and think positive!" Sora was already transitioning back to the laid-back, friendly guy he always was when the worlds weren't in danger. The heroes of Light had won, hands-down. The threat of Organization XIII was over, bar the cleanup and journey home.

Riku couldn't say no to that earnest, puppy-like enthusiasm. "Well, I guess the Dusks couldn't have gotten in here if it were impossible to leave, so there must be a way out. Oh, and Sora?"

"Hm?"

"Get your hand off my butt." One of Sora's arms was around Riku's lower back to hold him up, but not actually _that_ low. He was just trying to fluster the younger boy, just like when he used to needle Sora about denying the brunet's crush on Kairi. Of course, after Sora undertook two journeys specifically to save Kairi, that tactic wouldn't work anymore.

"Whoops!" Sora hastily shifted the hand supporting Riku's lower back a little higher up, then set off walking in a random direction, half-carrying Riku as they went. After all, nothing would change if they just stayed where they were.

After a while of trudging forward-ish, Riku spoke up. "Funny...I always thought I was better at stuff than you. All the stuff. But now look at me."

Sora just chuckled. Riku asked, "You're not mad?"

Sora grinned. "Nah. I...kinda always figured you were better at everything, too. After all, today's score for heroic saves and successful plans is 11 to 15, your favor. I'm still losing."

Riku craned his neck up as much as he could just to give Sora an utterly baffled look. "You were keeping track?!"

"Of course! At least for the stuff I've heard you did that helped us today. How else could I know how strong we both are? I'll beat you one of these days, you just wait! We're still rivals, after all!"

Sora had the weirdest logic sometimes. Riku sighed, "What I was trying to say was, I think you've already won."

" _We've_ already won," Sora insisted. Suddenly, he pointed straight ahead. "Hey, what's that Light?"

"What Light?" Then Riku saw it: a tiny pinprick of brilliant, white Light, just barely large enough to distinguish from the Nothing all around it. As the boys watched, the Light grew larger and brighter until it was all they could see, washing them away to yet another uncharted world.

 **VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

 _[Heart Timeline]: Realm Between: The Crossroads..._

 _Lambda: Stop Relius Clover's experiment!_

The other end of Relius' Time Break opened high above the ground, dropping Lambda and Relius straight down. Relius descended slowly and touched down lightly, complete with dramatic ripples of wind in his immaculate cape, but Lambda crashed painfully into the dirt with her face. She pushed herself to her feet, thankful that she hadn't lost her grip on Elysium in the crash, and looked around.

Lambda recognized this place, although she'd only been here briefly, and only once before. This was the dirt crossroads through an endless field of grass where Riku had made his resolution to walk the road to dawn. Lambda and Relius had touched down right in the center of the four-way crossing. Above them, the spiky rift of the Time Break showed a distorted reflection of the T-System core, but since that area was completely white, so was the Time Break.

Relius turned away from Lambda, as though it was equally interesting to watch the endless grass grow as to face his rogue creation. "Ignis should be arriving...now."

Another Time Break appeared slightly below the first. It reflected what seemed to be a teenager's bedroom - the drapes were drawn and the lights were off, despite the sunny day outside, and various odds and ends lay scattered on the floor. Ignis descended through the Time Break, followed by Nu-13 in full Battle Mode.

As Nu passed through the Time Break feet-first, the rift began to visibly swell. The further she went, the faster it grew, as if trying to swallow her back up and keep her in the Azure Timeline. Still, the Thirteenth Prime Field Device outpaced the expanding Time Break. As soon as the top of her hair curl left the rift behind, the growing rift overlapped the other Time Break above it.

In a split second, both rifts were covered by static as though from an old computer monitor, and then that static was swallowed by featureless blackness, a darkness so deep that all sense of depth perception and three-dimensional shape was lost. The combined Time Break looked like a rip in a section of wallpaper; it was impossible to even tell how far away it was from the sky or ground.

Relius grinned and adjusted his opera mask. "Excellent! Just as theorized, the Collision Zone has formed! I was concerned when the Azure Timeline was re-written by the Man of Azure, but it seems the Thirteenth Subject is among the few souls who still possess any 'information' about the previous version - enough significance to properly hasten the degeneration of the Time Breaks into a true Collision Zone. Now it is only a matter of time - hours or less - before the Zone inevitably swallows all space and time on both sides, creating the perfect void for the creation of my new world!" Even now, the Collision Zone was spreading across the sky. Lambda couldn't tell how long until the ground on which they stood would be consumed as well.

Lambda asked, "Is there any way to stop it?" She wasn't expecting an answer.

Relius provided one, however. "Not so long as I, the Observer of the original Time Breaks, exist. I can rest assured that you will never stop me; not while you deal with Ignis and Number Thirteen." He didn't even gesture, but the two combat dolls in question turned toward Lambda and summoned swords and drills.

Lambda held her Keyblade on her right side in both hands, but she remembered her dream; she was _not_ ready to fight even a Stalwart Blade in melee combat, much less a tag-team of Ignis and Nu. "I can't win if I fight them head on...but there must be another way!" She gazed at Nu, the girl with a face so similar to Lambda's own. Surely she could be helped like Lambda had been, right?

Lambda jumped to the side as Ignis rolled forward, with a pair of tassels hanging from its pink headdress to the ground forming a buzz saw-like wheel around the doll's body. Lambda stumbled on the landing, which luckily helped her dodge a pair of summoned swords from Nu. The "database" that had been feeding Lambda all those small bites of info suddenly pushed a series of impressions directly into her heart...

 _"Let's go even deeper this time, Ragna!"_

 _"I was always dreaming...about you. That's why...Nu wasn't lonely."_

 _"C'mon, Ragna! Let's kill each other over and over again!"_

 _"We'll destroy the whole world, just you and me!"_

 _"W-what? How did Ragna get so big and strong...?"_

 _"'Save' Nu? Save me? Why do you say such silly things?"_

 _"Die die die die die! You'll all DIE!"_

 _"My dream is...to become one with Ragna...and destroy everything!"_

 _"Ragna...there's no 'Ragna the Bloodedge' in this world. I have no purpose anymore."_

 _"Orders...acknowledged."_

...Yep. Nu's mind was broken beyond repair. Even if Lambda could unlock the control protocol, Nu would still be an insane psychopath with an endless supply of swords and only one desire - to cut down everything around her and consume it all until she found Ragna, which she never would. But if Lambda did nothing, the Collision Zone overhead would consume everything anyway.

Lambda took a gamble on _less_ certain death. She called out to Nu, "Nu! Your dream, it's...terrible and wrong, not to mention impossible. But what Relius would make you do is even worse. Here, I'll throw you a lifeline: a chance to find a new dream to follow. A dream should be something no one else decides for you - not Relius, not 'Saya', not even the Azure should decide what your dream is! I'll open the door for you, but whether you go through...that's your choice to make. Make your choice, Nu!"

Lambda pointed Elysium straight at Nu's head and fired a Release beam. (She didn't question how she knew how to do that.) The force of the shot blew Lambda's loose hair around behind her. The beam scored a direct hit right in the single red eye of Nu's visor, shattering the mask and knocking the white-haired girl on her back.

Nu rolled over and pushed herself to her feet. Her sunken, red eyes were dull and unfocused, but suddenly she blinked, and there was a new sparkle in them. "Loading...loading...protocol execution canceled. Nu is...I'm free. But what's the point of freedom?"

Lambda gave Nu the warmest smile she could muster. "That's for you to decide. Oh...by the way, no pressure, but if one of us two doesn't do something about Relius, you won't have any more time or space to make such a decision."

"I...I want to find Ragna. But Ragna is gone. He...sacrificed himself. And he didn't want Nu anyway. Ragna...didn't have anything he wanted for himself. That dummy...always getting himself hurt and getting nothing out of it...but he won. He won something for everyone. Maybe...maybe I should be like that."

Lambda asked, while rolling away from Ignis' stabbing drill-arm, " _Should_ you? Or do you _want_ to be like that?"

Nu nodded slowly. "I...I do. I am Nu. I'm the one who remembers Ragna!"

Lambda pointed at Relius. "Well then, you've made your choice. Here's your chance to be just like him. If Relius goes through the Collision Zone now, he'll cease to exist, and so will the things he's Observing, including the Collision Zone itself. This is your moment, Nu. I'll make sure Ignis doesn't spoil it."

Nu stared at Lambda as though a pile of gold (or maybe Ragna wearing heart-shaped spectacles) had just fallen from the sky - an impossible miracle had just restored her faith in the world. "Thanks, Sis...ter? Yes, you're my big sister! I think I can do this!"

Lambda grinned. "It's okay. Don't just think you can. _Believe_ it, and then _do_ it...Little Sis!"

Nu turned to Relius and re-summoned Murakumo's visor. Like someone had flipped a switch, her posture, tone of voice, and attitude all changed. Now Nu was in full psycho-yandere Battle Mode, because some things just don't change. "So, 'Master' Relius Clover...come with me! I'll show you _such_ a good time. We'll kill each other and kill each other until neither of us exists anymore! I mean, I'll still be thinking of Ragna and hating you for keeping me away from him the whole time, but I hear it feels even better if you hate each other!"

Nu giggled her psychotic giggle and launched three pairs of swords from the front, behind, and below the Mad Puppeteer. Relius blocked the attacks, but lost focus on Ignis, allowing Lambda to run the Detonator through with Elysium.

Relius, for his part, felt his meticulously-laid plans falling out from under him. "C-come, Ignis! Defend your Master!"

Ignis tried to teleport to Relius' side, but Lambda twisted the Keyblade in its torso, breaking through some important parts inside the woman-turned-weapon. "Nu's doing what her heart has decided; you and Relius _can't_ interfere. That's the most important law of the Heart Timeline, as I realized almost immediately after arriving here. Now get out of the home I've chosen!"

Nu hovered over to Relius, laying a Gravity Seed underneath him, then launched a massive sword straight ahead to pierce his gut. "That's right...I got this move from the adjustments under Terumi; let your life be stopped on the Sword of Hades." Smaller swords appeared in a dome around Relius, then skewered him one by one. Finally, a sword of comparable size to Calamity Sword dropped on him from above, dispersing the other blades and bouncing the Architect off the dirt. Nu air-dashed to catch him with her bare hands, then stabbed him with her Petals and the blade in her hair. "I have you now, 'Master', and I'm never letting you go again!" Blood mixed with black oil spurted from Relius' mouth and got droplets on Nu's face, but she just giggled. "Go on, let it all out and come with me!" She hovered straight up with a Relius-shaped pincushion in tow, dragging them both through the Collision Zone.

The Zone wavered, but didn't close yet. Lambda realized what was missing; she swung Elysium upward with all her might, ripping Ignis off the blade and sending it skyward. Lambda overbalanced and fell on her back, but the move worked. As Ignis passed through the Collision Zone, the now-massive rip in space jerked diagonally and vanished all at once.

Lambda heaved a sigh of relief, looking up at the deep blue sky with a flotilla of puffy silver-white clouds. "It's over...it's finally over." She sat there for a few moments to catch her breath.

As peaceful as it was to just lie in the dirt and look at the sky, Lambda quickly grew bored. She got to her feet and looked around. She mused to herself, "Now if I remember correctly..." She looked left, "...that's the road to Darkness..." she looked right, "...that's the road to Light..." she craned her neck over her shoulder, "...that's the road to nightfall..." she faced straight ahead, "...and that's the road to dawn. But really, none of them suit me. I make my _own_ roads." With a grin, she pointed Elysium at the ground in front of her and concentrated on the Power of Light within her, which was a lot stronger after her heart-to-heart with Nu earlier. She gathered it up the same way she used to make Corridors of Darkness, and the Keyblade fired a beam. When the beam struck in the middle of the crossroads, a black portal with wispy, white edges burst into existence - a gate to the _Lanes Between_ that would lead her wherever her heart wished to go. Lambda focused on her feelings for Riku and stepped through.

 **VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

 _The Realm of Darkness: The Dark Margin..._

Riku had a relatively short list of places he might have expected to be sent by a random burst of Light in Xemnas' final battle dimension. It could have led back home to the Destiny Islands, or maybe to someplace in the Realm Between, like Twilight Town or Castle Oblivion. Where it actually sent the two boys, though...how did a blast of Light send them to the Realm of Darkness? Even Wonderland would have been a better fit!

A beach of grayish sand stretched out forever to both sides. Behind them, a jagged plain of black rocks streaked with glowing blue cracks led into the infinite Darkness. In front of them was the ocean - a surprisingly normal ocean. Far out across the water, a bright Light was shining just above the horizon, obscured by a thick fog over the sea. Was it a moon? Kingdom Hearts? It didn't matter - there was no way to get out there to find out.

"End of the road?" Riku asked. Maybe Sora had an idea of how to get out of here.

"Looks that way." Apparently not. One way or another, they would never escape the Realm of Darkness without outside help, not even with their Keyblades - that was just how it worked.

Riku's nagging doubts started to rise up again. "Maybe...if this is what the world really is - just this - then maybe I should fade back into Darkness."

"No, Riku," was Sora's automatic response.

"But think about it. The Realm of Light is safe now. Xehanort and his Heartless and Nobody were eliminated; all the members of Organization XIII were either terminated or changed sides; and the Extraction Program was destroyed, meaning the Heartless will return to a manageable level." Really, all the loose ends seemed to be tied up...except Sora and Riku's happy ending.

"True...Kairi, Lambda, the King, and the others are still on the other side. They'll keep everyone safe. But I still don't think we should just fade into Darkness. I mean, they'll be looking for us. If we can't get out of the Realm of Darkness by ourselves, then all we can do is believe in them. You _do_ believe in them, right, Riku? RIKU!"

When Sora turned to look at Riku, the taller boy had fallen over. "Don't worry, I'm fine...just tired. I did _not_ get enough rest on this journey. I guess having to rest here for a while isn't the worst thing that could happen." Riku could already feel his eyes getting heavy...but there was one thing he wanted to do first. "Sora, could you carry me? I want to get down to the water."

"Sure thing." Sora hoisted Riku up and half-dragged him down to the water's edge. There, both boys sat with their feet in the waves and laid down to rest.

Riku closed his eyes. "At least the waves sound the same..." An indeterminate amount of time was spent in companionable silence.

After a while, Riku spoke up again. "Sora, what I said back there...about thinking I was better at stuff than you?"

"Yeah? You still are, by the way. My carrying you here makes the score 12 to 15."

"Right, right. To tell you the truth, Sora...I was jealous of you."

"What for? Don't tell me you were actually listening to Xemnas' taunts!"

This wasn't a new idea for Riku. "I wished I could live life the way you do...just following my heart. But I had to be the strongest fighter, or the coolest upperclassman, or the role model. And whenever I followed my heart, I ended up in the wrong place - falling to Darkness, running away from you, and losing track of Namine were the worst parts of this particular journey, I think. It took Lambda forever to yank me back onto the right track."

"But everything turned out okay, right? I mean, not perfect, but we won, and you got all kinds of cool powers and a Keyblade of your own! I _still_ can't just fly wherever I want, and I've been at this twice as long as you."

"I can't fly anymore, and you can still rip through Heartless way faster than I can. Come to think of it, you lost your powers, like, twice, and you're still way stronger than me. But...I guess there is one advantage to being me - something you could never imitate." Riku left the idea hanging, waiting for Sora to take the bait.

Sora didn't disappoint. "What's that?"

"Having you for a friend."

"Aw man, I think the score's 12 to 16 now! But that's okay. I've got something similar you could never imitate, too. So I guess I'm fine the way I am."

"Yeah. Me, too." The two boys fell silent again, and eventually drifted off to sleep.

Some time later, Riku woke up when something other than gentle waves bumped his leg. Rousing himself from sleep, he sat up to see a glass bottle had washed ashore between his feet. He started grumbling to himself that even in the Realm of Darkness, there was junk in the sea, but then he saw the contents of the bottle: a letter. He opened the bottle, patted the bottom to knock the rolled-up paper out, and began to read. There wasn't a normal greeting line, but after the vague, free-verse poem, there was a signature he recognized: ~ _Kairi_.

Well, this was one more job for the delivery boy, then. "Hey, Sora? I think it's for you." Riku passed along the letter, and Sora began to read it out loud:

" _Thinking of you, wherever you are:_

 _We pray for our sorrows to end, and hope that our hearts will blend._

 _Now I will step forward to realize this wish._

 _And who knows - starting a new journey may not be so hard..._

 _Or maybe it has already begun._

 _There are many worlds, but they share the same sky - one sky, one destiny._

 _~Kairi._ "

As soon as Sora finished reading the last word, a bright Light shone from the water's edge, blinding them. Squinting at the Light, they could see it formed a tall rectangle, like a door.

"Light..."

"The Door to Light..."

Riku snorted. "Seriously, just like that? Not that I'm complaining."

Sora jumped to his feet and held a hand out to help Riku up. "We'll go together."

Riku took the offered hand, but stood up and started walking on his own. "Sure. Let's call it a tie today."

Both boys walked through the Door to Light at the same time.

 **VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

 _A/N: Whew! That's finally it for the battles! There will be one more chapter - a short, mostly action-free epilogue - and that, as they say, 's that. I hope you all enjoyed the Time Break Saga!_

 _Of course, there's still quite a bit of potential for more, but knowing me, it'll take a long time before I even start chiseling away at the various options I've left open, some of which have been discussed in PMs with a few of my long-time reviewers._


	31. You're Home

**Silver Linings**

 **Chapter 31: "You're Home."**

 _A/N: This is the epilogue of Silver Linings - the splashy, happy ending of Kingdom Hearts II. It's been a bumpy, LONG ride, but I think it was worth it, don't you?_

 _DISCLAIMER, for old times' sake: I don't own anything about this crossover. Nothing at all. Kingdom Hearts and its vibrant World are property of Square Enix and Disney Interactive (shared in some ratio I can't even comprehend), and BlazBlue and its established harmony are the property of Arc System Works. I'm not affiliated with any of those groups, of course, and I make no money from this fan work. Squeenix and Arc, please don't terminate me or cleanse this story in the fires of destruction. Fans, please don't post any part of this story anywhere else without getting permission from all applicable parties._

 **VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

 _Destiny Islands..._

 _Everyone: Time to celebrate!_

Lambda stepped through the portal, shivering somewhat from the unexpectedly strong Darkness she had to walk through, and found herself on a picturesque beach at sunrise. A group of people was nearby, made up of everyone from the final battle except Sora and Riku. Lambda called out to them, "Hey, everyone! You won't believe what just happened! I just got a Keyblade and fixed the Time Breaks in time to stop the apocalypse!"

Goofy's reply went straight to the point. "Cool beans!"

Donald mumbled halfheartedly, "Yeah, what he said." Lambda thought he was just jealous that everyone else got a Keyblade first.

Mickey cheered, "Thank goodness! That's a huge relief!"

Roxas asked, "What the heck is a Time Break? What apocalypse?"

Lambda quickly replied, "It doesn't matter anymore; they won't happen again. I'll tell you more later."

Xion asked, "Can I see your Keyblade?"

Lambda summoned Elysium and held it out for inspection, producing a brief swirl of rectangular, green motes of energy around her hand where the weapon appeared. "This is my Keyblade, **Elysium**.Cool, huh? I'm no good at using it, though."

Kairi asked in a less-cheerful manner, "Do you know where Sora is?"

Lambda replied, "No, but my attempt to go to where Riku is led me here, so I bet they're on their way here as we speak. He and Sora got left behind, but I'm sure they've beaten whatever the problem was keeping them busy by now."

Speak of the heroes... _*SPLASH!*_ A shining blue streak of Light crashed into the sea behind Lambda's head, creating an impressive splash. A few seconds later, Sora and then Riku surfaced from underwater. Sora's trademark spiky hair remained in place despite the thorough soaking, leaving no doubts that he was indeed home.

He was looking the wrong way, however, so Kairi took it on herself to call out, "Sora! Riku!" This got the boys scrambling back to shore with silly grins on their faces. Kairi ran to meet them at the shore, but she was outpaced by everyone else, as usual.

Donald and Goofy glomped Sora into the surf, once again failing to take Goofy's weight into account. Sora squeezed them both tight.

Mickey ran up to Riku, who swung the tiny king around in the air and pulled him into an extremely sappy hug. Lambda ran to join that group; she and Riku swung Mickey's whole body up and down with a vigorous handshake.

Roxas and Xion sat on the sand and grinned at the scene, but mostly at each other. Between the happy reunion and the beach trip, the only thing that could make this better would be Axel showing up with Sea Salt Ice Cream for everyone.

 _Drat,_ Xion thought to herself. _Axel didn't show up._ Well, holding hands on the beach was good enough for now. _But maybe..._ Xion leaned in and pecked Roxas on the cheek, catching him completely by surprise while he was distracted by Sora's antics. This immediately took his focus off Sora petting Goofy's nose...and he returned the kiss! _Score!_

In general, much joyous laughter was had by all.

As for Kairi, she approached the dog-and-duck pile for her long-awaited turn to welcome Sora home. Sora looked up at her beaming smile, and for an instant he saw Namine, too. He grinned, "We're back!"

Kairi corrected, "You're home!" She held out a hand to help Sora get up from the pile.

Sora broke eye contact to fumble in his pockets for a moment - he had a promise to keep! "Yeah..." When he grasped Kairi's hand, he also passed her a small object. Between their hands was Kairi's homemade seashell charm. "...And I brought it back, just like I promised."

Kairi giggled for a moment. "How did you not break that thing? But... I'm really glad you kept it safe, Sora."

Sora stood up. "Me, too. It's all over now, though."

Kairi just laughed again. "What are you talking about? For me - and for us - this is just the beginning." She leaned in and boldly kissed her lovable, spiky-haired doofus right on the mouth. "Now c'mon, you lazy bum. We've got a whole life together to catch up on!" And no, Kairi wasn't going to wait for Sora to get the hint any more.

A short distance away, Lambda, Riku, and Mickey watched the other half of the reunion. Lambda asked Riku, "So, Riku, what happened back at the World That Never Was?"

Riku rolled his eyes. "It was Xemnas again. He just wouldn't take a hint. We had to slay a couple more dragons, cut up a few buildings, and block a bunch of lasers." Saying this description was an understatement would be an understatement in itself, but Riku was in a good enough mood to joke about it now. If he ever felt like angsting over how close he came to death, and how many times, he'd do it later.

Lambda nodded. "Nice work! While you were gone, I fixed that mess with the Time Breaks, got a Keyblade, broke my control protocol as well as Nu's, and we beat Relius Clover!" Lambda brandished Elysium to demonstrate.

Riku grinned. "You've been busy, then! Wait, does this mean you won't have to call me Master anymore?"

Lambda shrugged. "Technically, yes, but I think I should anyway...since only you could have been the Keyblade Master who passed this on to me. Speaking of which, I need to train with this thing. I'd just embarrass you if I tried to swing it around as I am now." She demonstrated by swinging away from Riku, but she overbalanced and stumbled sideways. "...See? I also didn't get to use the speech I had written up for just such an occasion, but things happened really fast. Plus, referring to myself as an object, even a really cool object like 'the Light of dawn', would've contradicted the point I was trying to make anyway."

Riku chuckled at the display. "I see. I'm not much of a Keyblade Master myself, though; I've had the Keyblade for what, an hour longer than you? For now, let's just enjoy life, or something."

Lambda squeezed up next to Riku and gave him a quick peck on the cheek. "'Or something' sounds good."

Kairi ran up to them. "Oh, yeah! We need to get you and Xion some new clothes! I heard from Namine that none of you have changed clothes in a whole year, which is...just gross. Don't worry, though; I'll find you both some cute new outfits! Namine gets a pass because she doesn't really have a body, but for you, it's mandatory. You can't just walk around in nothing but that bodysuit all the time."

"Do as you will with my girlfriend; I bow to your girly wisdom," Riku intoned as he did an overly-dramatic bow. When Kairi got all assertive like this, it was best to just go along with it. Riku would normally stay out of the goofy antics, but so many people were into it right now that it was infectious.

"Will this be enough munny?" Roxas asked, dumping a truly ridiculous sum of munny out of his pockets. Even Mickey was impressed. Roxas sheepishly rubbed his neck. "That's...more than I thought I had. I think I got half of Sora's munny, on top of what I earned on missions. But I didn't have this much in the virtual Twilight Town...I _knew_ Riku was a thief!"

Sora called out, "Hey, not cool, Roxas! I had to beat a _lot_ of Heartless for that munny!" 

"Well, what would you have spent it on, besides gifts for the girls?" Riku asked.

"Well, obviously I would...um...er..." Sora trailed off. He really didn't need to buy much of anything from a store. He slumped over in defeat. "Darn. Now the score's 17 to 12."

"Do you even have shops for clothes on the Islands?" Donald asked.

Goofy added, "All the shops I've seen on other worlds just sell Potions and stuff."

Kairi replied, "Of course we have a market, but no one sells Potions; no one needs them. We're pretty isolated from other worlds here on the Destiny Islands. We'll head out after we say goodbye to the King and his friends."

"Is this...goodbye?" Darn it, Sora was about to cry again!

Goofy hastily appeased, "No way! We'll come back and visit real soon!"

Donald nodded enthusiastically.

Mickey added, "I can send letters, too! Besides, if any trouble crops up, the worlds may need your help again. Guarding the balance of Light and Darkness is the duty of every Keyblade wielder."

Sora cheered up. "Okay, then! We'll be waiting! ...Wait, where did we park the Gummi Ship?"

Donald replied after some thought, "Wak! It's back at Radiant Garden! Nuts. Now what do we do?"

 _"Did somebody say 'nuts'? Where?"_ Right on cue, Dale's squeaky voice blared from a loudspeaker as the _Falcon_ descended from above. It looked like the chipmunks had done another impressive tune-up; there were a lot more wings and weapons on the new version of the Gummi Ship.

 _"Not that kind, you dummy! Hang on, Your Majesty! It's your favorite Gummi engineers, Chip..."_

 _"...And Dale!"_

 _"...Here to give you a lift!"_

Mickey grinned as he revealed, "I thought this would happen, so I sent a letter to Chip and Dale before Lambda showed up!"

Goofy scratched his ear with an embarrassed chuckle; he and Donald would never have thought of that, and they hadn't even noticed Mickey writing the letter. "A-hyuck! That's why he's the King, after all!"

The _Falcon Peak_ landed on the other side of the beach, which spared the heroes from the sand that got sprayed everywhere by the high-end Gummi Ship's maneuvering thrusters. A glowing circle formed on the sand to teleport passengers aboard.

Mickey turned and waved at the residents of Destiny Islands. "See ya real soon, fellas!" He dashed over and jumped into the teleporter before the _Falcon Peak_ even finished landing.

"Gawrsh, I'll miss you guys!" Goofy wiped his misty eyes before loping into the teleporter.

"Goofy, wait up! I-I didn't get to say goodbye enough! GOODBYE, SORA!" Donald speed-waddled after his fellow retainer, crying more tears than Sora had ever seen from him.

Everyone still on the beach waved at the ship (including Namine, who manifested herself just for this gesture) as it rose upward, then blasted off into a Keyhole-shaped portal in the sky.

"...So, what's for lunch?" Riku asked, changing the topic. "I've eaten literally nothing but a few ice cream bars since Ansem possessed me, and I think we've all earned a celebratory feast. All in favor?"

Ten hands raised, including those of Namine and three Islanders whom Sora hadn't seen in a whole year. The other Destiny Islands trio was running towards them from the docks. Tidus called out, "Hey, Sora and Riku are back!"

Wakka added, "And we get food, too? Best. Day. EVER!"

Selphie demanded, "You HAVE to tell us all about your super-romantic adventures over lunch! The burgers are on me, so now you _owe_ me!"

Riku laughed and nodded. "Sure, why not? But _my_ adventures will scare your pants off!"

"Joke's on you!" Kairi and Selphie shot back simultaneously. After all, short dresses were "in" this year.

Everyone laughed and ran to the extra boats the other trio had towed with them.

"Wait, we don't have a boat," Roxas mentioned, indicating himself and Xion.

"That's no problem! Hold on tight!" Xion summoned her Sonic Blade weapon set and flew across the sea to the main island, dragging Roxas by one hand.

"He is one lucky guy," Tidus groaned as he rowed his boat. "I wish I had a cool girlfriend like that."

"Naw, mon. I'd probably get airsick," Wakka drawled.

Selphie was too busy rowing her boat to add anything; she didn't have muscles to spare like the others.

And so a grand adventure came to a close. Inside Kairi's heart, Namine shut her sketchbook, having finished a drawing of a beautiful sunrise over the beach.

 **VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

 _Meanwhile, in Twilight Town..._

"...Gah, I feel like shit. Where am I? More importantly, why am I not dead? Ragna would've made goddamn sure I wasn't part of his happy ending... Whoa, lucky break! That doll was good for something after all! Watch out, kids, I'm coming for payback! Prepare for pain! Misery! DESPAIR! Kyahahaha! AH-HAHAHAHA!"

 **VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

 _Final Author's Notes (this section is longer than usual):_

 _It's finally over...but many dangers still lurk in the Darkness._

 _The basis of a third installment to the Time Break Saga is already rattling around in my head, but don't expect it to be written any time soon. If you get an alert email for a new story from me called "Asleep at Dawn", that'll be the one that makes this a trilogy._

 _The next installment would follow the new potential Keyblade warriors - Lambda, Kairi, and Xion (and Lea, of course) - as they train with their new powers and find unique roles for themselves. I'll need to make up most of the "Training Worlds" (the "temporally flexible space" created by Merlin and the fairies) from scratch, though, so it would definitely be even_ slower _to update. Feel free to PM me with suggestions for worlds you would like to see!_

 _This story has changed and metamorphosed quite a lot from where I first thought it would go. Remember back when I said_ Silver Linings _would be a collection of loosely-connected one-shots? Heck, remember back when my username was "mysteriousguy898"? There's a reason I'm calling myself The Unplanner now. However, I think this project has improved my overall writing ability._

 _The original reason I started writing this, back in_ Dark Clouds _, was to find Riku a girlfriend. He's part of a setting and interpersonal role that make him uniquely suited to crossover pairings._

 _Then I realized I'd made a crossover of two of the most insanely complicated plots in video game history, so I started trying to figure out and reverse-engineer all the nuts and bolts of Light, Darkness, magic, Observation, and Phenomena Intervention. I think I did pretty well in that regard, although I often ended up turning Riku and Lambda into talking heads._

 _While I was rehashing canon events from Riku's perspective, I got to thinking about significant changes Lambda could make to the plot. A lot of reviewers also wanted to see that. It became one of the few facets of Lambda's character that stayed consistent; she tended to shift her tone a lot because I take so long between updates, but that chaos turned out to be perfect for her role. Relius Clover even commented on it in the final confrontation._

 _Relius' explanation of the "database" Lambda has was somewhat cryptic...because he's Relius. Being creepy and cryptic is basically his hobby. For clarification: that database, which shows up as italicized text at the start of each section and when new terms and names are introduced, is a connection to the true Kingdom Hearts that Lambda formed when she first fell into the Realm of Darkness. That connection is also the reason she's somewhat overpowered as an Observer. Lambda would learn more about this in "Asleep at Dawn"._

Blue Skies _is still lying dormant on my profile, waiting for suggestions._

 _Thank you all for sticking with me for_ years _as this saga chugged along at about a chapter per month. In fact, this project has taken so long that I think I need to roll some credits:_

 _Extra special thanks to my brother, who goes by The Mighty Gyarapie, for constantly needling me until I updated. Without you, this story would have drowned in the Darkness years ago._

 _Titano Man XIII: the PM conversations we've had were loads of fun. Thank you for helping me get my thoughts in order, too!_

 _Dragdownintotheabyss: thank you for sending me PMs when I stalled for months on end to snap me out of my procrastinating funk._

 _A reviewer by the name of That Mysterious Reader helped me come up with the design for Lambda's Keyblade (and its name, Elysium) a while ago. They also contributed several ideas to_ Blue Skies. _I haven't heard from them in a long time, though, unless they've changed their username like I did. If you're out there somewhere reading this, thank you for your help._

 _And of course, thank you to everyone who read this story! Thank you all for favoriting, following, reviewing, and even lurking! It makes me really happy every time I get an alert that says "[Username] is following Silver Linings"._

 _Let's meet again in the next fic!_


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